Soukaina Aziz El Idrissi, a textile artist born and raised in Morocco, travelled to Providence, Rhode Island to participate in The Art in Embassies: Morocco Course at the Rhode Island School of Design. This collaborative project was designed to promote cross-cultural exchange and to recognize and nurture the talents of the next generation of professional artists. Renowned artist Jim Drain worked cooperatively on a sculpture for the new US embassy Rabat, Morocco, with a select group of students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Soukaina.
During their semester, questions Jim and the students discussed during the design and construction phase were “What does it mean to make a sculpture for a US Embassy?”, “What does it mean to borrow symbols of another culture?”, “What is cultural diplomacy and how do you design for it?” Soukaina’s Exchange program engaged in cross-cultural dialog over issues such as artistic processes and cultural identity.