The city of Kairouan enjoys a rich and varied cultural life. Already at the city’s founding by Okba Ibn Nafaa in 670 AD, a school of literature sprang from the local Muslim culture, and continued to shine its light throughout the Maghreb region until the middle of the 11th Century.

Kairouan has also long been famous for its many fictionalists, poets, and critics such as Ibn Hani Al Andaloussi, known as "Al Mouanabi Maghrebi." The town reached its pinnacle under the Zirides with writers such as Ibn Rachiq, Ibn Charaf and Al Houssari.

Today celebrated creative thinkers such as Mohamed Ghozzi, Moncef Louhaibi, Jaafar Majed, Jamila Mejri, and Salheddine Boujah among many others perpetuate the tradition of their ancestors, laying the foundations of an intellectual renaissance in the area.

As far as regular cultural events are concerned, numerous festivals are held by NGOs throughout the year. Some of these are :

• L ’association du theatre (the theatre association),
• L ’association du 7e art (the cinema association),
• Le printemps des arts (the annual arts festival).

The arts festival has taken place every April since 1995, and is without a doubt the most important, attracting many artists and people of creative vocation from the four corners of the globe to Kairouan.

The Regional Delegation of Culture, Youth, and Leisure also sponsors numerous summer festivals with music and various other types of entertainment at a cost of 85,045, 520 TD in 2003.

Cultural Ramadan 2005 held in Kairouan.

From Street Life to Historical Monuments :

The fifth annual Festival of the Medina in Kairouan will be held this year 16 – 30 October under the aegis of the Kairouan Letters and Music Forum, in collaboration with the Regional Delegation for Culture and the Preservation of Heritage.

The festival will center around street entertainment and highlight the city’s historical monuments through the organization of cultural events in open areas, such as Abid Al Ghariani, the Maison du Tapis (the carpet house), and l’Ecole Al Khoudia. In addition, an exposition of plastic arts with the theme “The Mosques of Tunisia” is also being planned.

The festival will be opened by Zied Gharsa, a celebrated Tunisian singer, and the evening will be closed by the performance of Ali Sriti and Leila Hjaiej, artists who are equally famous.

Other attractions of the festival are performances by Noureddine El Beji, Mourad Ben Ibrahim, Choubeila Rached, Mohsen Cherif, as well as the presentation of the typical song form known as “chant Soufi.”

Slaheddine Boujah, Abderhhahmene Majid Errabii, and Hatem Nagati will give public readings of ancient Kairouanese poetry.

Finally, the program will also include a gala evening dedicated to the cinema of Kairouan, with director Ibrahim Letaief as master of ceremonies, as well as an evening of threatre

Mohamed Rebai
info@kairouan.org