thesilkroadtoday
New institution from the Foundation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco will bring writers, artists, researchers and translators together to create, translate and publish across cultures
RABAT, Morocco — October 2026 — Morocco is set to open a new permanent institution dedicated to the movement of books, ideas and stories across cultures.
The Foundation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco for Culture and Cooperation will launch the House of Book Worlds in Rabat in October 2026, establishing a new platform for writers, artists, researchers, translators and publishers to work together across languages and cultural boundaries.
The project arrives as Rabat takes on the role of UNESCO World Book Capital for 2026, but its ambition extends well beyond a single year or a calendar of literary events. The House of Book Worlds is conceived as a lasting cultural institution: a place where international cultural exchange can happen through sustained creation, translation, collaboration and publication.
Its proposition is straightforward: the future of cultural dialogue should not be limited to presenting cultures to one another. It should create opportunities for them to create together.
A HOUSE FOR STORIES THAT CROSS BORDERS
The House of Book Worlds will bring together the different forces that shape literary and intellectual life—creation, translation, research, publishing and dissemination—within a single cultural ecosystem.
Through residencies and collaborative programs, the institution will host writers, artists, researchers and other cultural practitioners from Morocco and abroad, creating opportunities for sustained exchange rather than short-term encounters.
The aim is to open new pathways between languages, literary traditions and systems of imagination, while supporting conversations around some of the defining cultural questions of the present: evolving identities, cultural transformation, belonging and the ways societies understand one another.
FROM MOROCCO TO THE WORLD
Located in Rabat, a city shaped by centuries of encounters between civilizations, the House of Book Worlds will use Morocco’s geographic and cultural position as a starting point for a broader international mission.
The institution will operate at both national and international levels, creating connections between Moroccan cultural life, African perspectives and literary and intellectual communities around the world.
It will also seek to strengthen Rabat’s position as an international meeting place for cultural production and dialogue.
For Morocco, the project represents an opportunity not only to share its own stories with the world, but also to become a place where stories from different parts of the world are translated, challenged, combined and transformed.
BEYOND THE LITERARY EVENT
The House of Book Worlds draws inspiration from international cultural residencies and creative institutions that have demonstrated the value of giving artists and intellectuals a permanent environment in which to work and exchange.
Its model is deliberately different from the traditional festival format.
Rather than concentrating cultural exchange into a few days, the House will create an ongoing space for encounters and collaboration—one capable of generating books, translations, research, artistic works, partnerships and new conversations over time.
A NEW ROLE FOR THE BOOK
At the center of the project is the book—but the House of Book Worlds treats the book not simply as an object of culture, but as a vehicle for encounter.
A translated book carries one language into another. A writer carries one experience into another cultural context. A conversation can open a new intellectual territory.
The House seeks to bring these processes together and create a place where the movement of stories across borders becomes an active form of cultural cooperation.
OPENING IN OCTOBER 2026
The official launch of the House of Book Worlds is planned for October 2026 in Rabat.
The Foundation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco for Culture and Cooperation sees the institution as a long-term contribution to Morocco’s cultural infrastructure and to international dialogue through literature, translation and creative collaboration.
The House of Book Worlds is being created on the belief that the next chapter of global cultural dialogue should not simply be about cultures meeting. It should be about what they can create together.
About the Foundation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
The Foundation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco for Culture and Cooperation develops initiatives dedicated to cultural exchange, intellectual dialogue and cooperation, connecting Morocco with wider cultural and academic communities.
