The Dar Nissa Foundation
The Dar Nissa Foundation is dedicated to creating the Forum de Femme in Marrakech, a museum-forum founded by Azeddine Sedrati. Its purpose is to restore, safeguard and promote the cultural heritage born of women’s labor and of what they have inspired.
The founder
Azeddine Sedrati
A Moroccan veterinarian and horse breeder, Azeddine Sedrati has devoted twenty-five years to the memory of women. In 1994, in Tunis, he exhibited five paintings from each country of the Maghreb: the start of a path that led him to create the Forum de Femme.
“I did not know that on that day, I was opening a door I would never close again.”
Today he carries this project in Marrakech with the Dar Nissa Foundation, for an opening in 2028. His story is the thread of the museum’s film.
A twenty-five-year journey
It all began with a collection of women’s garments and jewelry from the Greater Maghreb, which had taken on the soul of those who wore them. Discovering wedding jewelry and attire revealed the original importance of the nuptial event, and the infinite dimension of relations between men and women.
Humanity’s cultural heritage includes the considerable work women have done with their own hands, and the work men have done for them. Their ancestral gestures lie at the origin of spinning, weaving and culinary techniques.
“Recognizing women’s rights begins with recognizing their works, and those they have inspired throughout history.”
Azeddine Sedrati
The mission
To pay tribute to women, the idea arose of creating in Marrakech the Cultural Forum of Women. This museum-forum will be a Moroccan, African and global center of culture for all the women of the world: a place to express their social role and all the arts around them, where they can encounter their diverse heritages, their similarities and their differences.
It will also host many events and interfaith meetings of women, helping to bring peoples closer together.
The collection
The Foundation holds an important collection of traditional Maghrebi, Asian and Arab costumes, with more than 3,000 works: women’s costumes, jewelry, Orientalist paintings and old photographs.
Designed to international standards for costume conservation, the museum-forum will be able to exchange collections with European, American and Asian museums. This collaboration will grow each year with the African countries that do not yet have the privilege of conserving their heritage.
Why Marrakech
Marrakech was chosen for its climate, favorable to the conservation of textiles and costumes, and for its international openness. COP 22, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, the Film Festival and major sporting competitions make it a universal showcase today.
The place
- The Forum: a large 2,440 m² event hall with a retractable roof, able to welcome more than 2,500 people.
- The Museum: more than 5,500 m² of permanent and temporary exhibitions, a documentation center, a film library, a multipurpose hall, a bookshop, a gift shop, a café, a restaurant and an auction room.
- The basement: 4,500 m² for storage, restoration workshops, service areas and parking.
- In all: about 15,000 m² of covered space, a total investment of 120 million dirhams and nearly 100 permanent jobs.
A project carried by its time
In 2003, His Majesty King Mohammed VI launched the Moudawana, a true step toward equality between men and women. In 2022, in His Throne Day speech, His Majesty recalled that the status and rights of women are essential conditions of social stability and economic development.
In December 2025, UNESCO’s recognition of the Moroccan caftan as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity strengthened the roots of this museum-forum in Marrakech.
A project for everyone
“This project belongs to everyone; first of all to the women of the world, and then to the fathers, husbands and sons who wish to give form to the immensity of the love they have drawn from them.”
Azeddine Sedrati
Contact us
- Address: Bd du Moyen-Orient, Marrakech 40000
- Email: contact@darnissa.com
- Phone: 00212 6 61 16 56 82
- Instagram: dar.nissa.eva