The Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) – UM6P hosted the inaugural lecture of its resident researcher Rim Affaya, as part of the Mercredis de l’IAS seminar series.

Entitled From Caftans to Warehouses: Toward an Anthropology of Circulations and Knowledge, the seminar was held at Salle Laâyoune, Riad Center (SHBM), on the UM6P Campus Benguerir. The lecture offered an original anthropological reflection grounded in the trajectories of objects, rituals, and narratives—ranging from wedding caftans to logistics warehouses—to examine the circulatory dynamics shaping contemporary Morocco.

Through a rich, multi-sited ethnography spanning Casablanca and Tangier, as well as Brussels and Paris, Rim Affaya explored how material and immaterial circulations intersect across informal economies, transnational imaginaries, and globalized infrastructures. By tracing movements between Moroccan living rooms and European warehouses, between ceremonial objects and delivery vans, the seminar highlighted how social, economic, and symbolic practices are deeply transformed through circulation.

This inaugural lecture opened a stimulating dialogue on the entanglement of material worlds and symbolic systems, shedding light on emerging social and cultural landscapes linking Morocco and its diaspora. The session was met with strong engagement and thoughtful discussion, marking a compelling opening to Rim Affaya’s residency at the IAS.