Marrakech Biennale 5 Catalogue - English / French

1
Title Name

Marrakech
Biennale
5
3
Title Name
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Marrakech Biennale 5
Editors: Hicham Khalidi, Amanda Sarroff, Natasha Hoare
Published on the occasion of
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
February 26 - March 31, 2014
Translation: Celine Curiol, Imane Nidae, Matthew Cunning-
ham, Ayoub El Mouzaine, Mohamed Elkhadiri, Heba Zohni,
Sophie Halart, Abdelkader Loukili, Paul Robion, Sarah Abdu
Abdallah, Julia Langbein, Youna Kwak, Jesse Kirkwood, Farid
Zahi, Alexander Toledano, Chlo Tuot
Proofreaders: Aya Nabih, Chlo Tuot, Tara Cunningham
Design: Rowan McCuskey
Printing and binding: ORO Grasch Project Management
Paper: Cheap local Turkish papers
Typefaces: Futura, Sabon, Adobe Arabic
Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of
copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent
editions.
Published by Jap Sam Books
in cooperation with Marrakech Biennale 5
This book was made possible
with generous lead support from MMP+
2014 Marrakech Biennale, Jap Sam Books, the editors, au-
thors, artists, and photographers. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or reprinted or utilized in any form without
express permission in writing from the publishers or copyright
holders except in the context of reviews.
Marrakech Biennale
Derb Moullay Abdullah Ben Hezzian
Bab El Ksour, Marrakech
www.marrakechbiennale.org
Jap Sam Books, Heijningen
www.japsambooks.nl
ISBN 978-94-90322-46-5
WHERE
ARE
WE
NOW
?
5
Title Name
Sous le Haut
Patronage de Sa Majest
le Roi Mohammed VI

Under the Royal
Patronage from his Majesty
The King Mohammed VI
6 7
Where Are We Now?
Andr Azoulay
Counselor to H.M. the King Mohammed VI
The Marrakech Biennale has
become an indelible part of
Moroccos vibrant cultural
legacy. Its programming con-
nects local and international
audiences to new ideas and
artistic visions from Morocco
and abroad. The title of the
fth edition WHERE ARE WE
NOW? speaks to Moroccos
current dynamism and to the
promise of its future.
La Biennale de Marrakech
constitue aujourdhui une
part essentielle du patrimoine
culturel marocain. A travers
sa programmation, elle per-
met un public local et in-
ternational de se rencontrer
autour de dbats dides et
de visions artistiques puisant
leurs sources au Maroc et
ltranger. Comme latteste le
titre de cette cinquime di-
tion O SOMMES-NOUS
MAINTENANT ?, le dyna-
misme actuel du Maroc sins-
crit aussi bien dans le prsent
que dans ses perspectives
davenir.
O sommes-nous maintenant?
Andr Azoulay
Conseiller auprs de Sa Majest le Roi Mohammed VI
8 9
Visual Arts & Sound /
Arts Visuels & Sonores
Curator / Commissaire
Hicham Khalidi
Artists / Artistes
Adriana Lara
Agnes Meyer-Brandis
Anne Verhoijsen
Asim Waqif
Burak Arikan
Can & Asli Altay
Cevdet Erek
Charif Benhelima
ric Van Hove
Gabriel Lester
Ghita Khamlichi
Hamid el Kanbouhi
Hamza Halloubi
Hassaan Kahn & Ibtesam
Gazder
Hiba Khamlichi
Hicham Benohoud
Iman Issa
Jelili Atiku
JG Thirlwell
Kader Attia
Katarina Zdjelar
Katinka Bock
Keren Cytter
Khaled Sabsabi
Lili Reynaud-Dewar
Max Boufathal
Mohamed Arejdal
Mounira Al Solh
Mustapha Akrim
Pamela Rosenkranz
Patrick Wokmeni
Randa Marou
Sadane Af
Sandra Niessen
Saout Radio (Younes Ba-
ba-Ali & Anna Raimondo)
Saud Mahjoub
Shezad Dawood
Tala Madani
Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti
Walid Raad
Yassine Balbzioui
Younes Rahmoun
Zaynab Khamlichi
freq_out 10:
Anna Ceeh
BJ Nilsen
Brandon LaBelle
Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Christine dlund
Franz Pomassi
Jacob Kirkegaard
JG Thirlwell
KamarStudios
Kent Tankred
leif e. boman
Leif Elggren
Maia Urstad
Mike Harding
Petteri Nisunen
Tommi Grnlund
Singing Maps and
Underlying Melodies:
Clara Meister, with / avec
S.T.I.F.F. and / et
KamarStudios
Cinema And Video /
Cinma & Vido
Jamal Abdennassar
Artists / Artistes
Amir Rouani
Hassan Darsi
Hicham Ayouch
Ismael El Iraki
Mohamed El Baz
Mohammed Laouli
Soukeina Hachem
Yacout Kabbaj
Yasmine Hajji
Youssef Ouchra
With a Carte Blanche to /
Avec une Carte Blanche la
Cinmathque de Tanger
Participants / Participants
Literature / Littrature
Driss Ksikes
Artists / Artistes
Acha El Beloui
Ali Essa
Asmae Lmrabet
Ghaleb Bencheikh
Hamza Boulaz
Imane Zerouali
Jaouad Essounani
Latefa Ahrrare
Michael Willis
Mohamed Sghir Janjar
Mounia Bennani-Chrabi
Mounir Bensalah
Olfa Youssef
Raja El Mouatarif
Sad Bouftass
Sanae El Aji
Simohammed Fettaka
Sophia Hadi
Taeb Belghazi
Performing Arts /
Arts Vivants
Khalid Tamer
Artists / Artistes
Collectif Les Scotcheurs
clairs
Philippe Allard & MBarek
Bouhchichi
Sandrine Dole
10 11
I
Foreword I
Vanessa Branson
III
Foreword II
Amine Kabbaj
V
Preface
Simon Njami
01
Introduction
02
Expanding Access
to Contemporary
Culture in North
Africa
Alya Sebti
10
Marrakech:
A Historical
Overview
Hamid Triki
14
Exhibition Venues
19
Visual & Sound Arts
20
Writing on the Wall
Kaelen
Wilson-Goldie
24
Where Are We
Now?
Identity as Fiction
Hicham Khalidi
34
Artist Biographies

71
Literature
72
The Expansion of the
Realm of Literature
Driss Ksikes
76
Artist Biographies
83
Performing Arts
84
Presenting Artwork in
Public Spaces
Khalid Tamer
86
Artist Biographies
91
Cinema & Video
92
Reinventing the
Boundaries of
Images
Jamal
Abdennassar
94
Artist Biographies
102
Carte Blanche at the
Cinmathque de
Tanger
Malika Chaghal
105
Parallel Projects
127
Afterword
Karim El Achak
134
Organization
Acknowledgments
MMP+
Table of Contents
II
Avant-propos I
Vanessa Branson
IV
Avant-propos II
Amine Kabbaj
VI
Prface
Simon Njami
01
Introduction
03
Accrotre laccs
la culture
contemporaine en
Afrique du Nord
Alya Sebti
11
Marrakech:
Aperu historique
Hamid Triki
15
Lieux dexpositions
19
Arts Visuels &
Sonores
21
Ecrire sur les murs
Kaelen
Wilson-Goldie
25
O sommes-nous
maintenant ? Identit
comme ction
Hicham Khalidi
35
Biographies des
artistes
71
Littrature
73
Lextension du
domaine de la
littrature
Driss Ksikes
76
Biographies des
artistes
83
Arts Vivants
85
Prsentation des
uvres au sein des
espaces publics
Khalid Tamer
86
Biographies des
artistes
91
Cinma & Vido
93
R-inventer les
territoires de limage
Jamal
Abdennassar
95
Biographies des
artistes
103
Carte Blanche la
Cinmathque de
Tanger
Malika Chaghal
105
Projets Parallles
127
Postface
Karim El Achak
134
Organisation
Remerciements
MMP+
Table de matires
I
Foreword I
Vanessa Branson, President and Founder
The Marrakech Biennale was born ten years
ago as a response to world events. Western
governments seemed to be painting the entire
area of North Africa and the Middle East with
the same broad brush of distrust and para-
noia. There was an increasing need to nd
a platform to debate ideas and ideologies.
What better way to do this than through the
arts?
Through the arts, you can discuss contentious
issues without causing offense; you can play
around with concepts, change your mind,
develop a critical language, and hone your
debating skills. Engaging in contemporary
culture indicates that a country celebrates free
thinking and is condent in its future.
The process of producing all the artworks in
Marrakech, with the artists engaged directly
with students from the university and utilizing
the skills of local artisans and technicians,
means that the local audience is engaged and
curious even before the international public
gets to see the work. We knew we were get-
ting something right when one commentator
described the Biennale as the Davos of the
art world.
The Biennale is not simply about discussing
parallels and differences among cultures but
about connecting different art forms. We revel
in contributors who move seamlessly from a
lmmaking panel to picking up a ukulele on
cabaret night. We understand the contribution
that each festival goer makes, not only in sup-
porting the event by purchasing a ticket, but
by being there to challenge participants and
by spreading the word once they leave.
This is a personal opinion, but artists really are
special people! It never ceases to amaze me
how they see the world through a prism differ-
ent from us mortals. They have an extrasenso-
ry system that is open to hidden stimuli, and
the ingenuity to transform this into something
tangible for us to marvel at.
Until now Marrakech had virtually no arts in-
frastructure. The city, with its rich soup of an-
cient traditions, beautiful light, exotic sounds
and smells, and astonishing number of skilful
artisans full of enthusiasm and ingenuity, is an
exciting, if at times challenging, environment
for an artist. The Biennale spotlight and its
ensuing press interest lend the town a crea-
tive surge. Artist residencies are opening, the
Marrakech Museum for Photography & Visual
Arts (MMP+) was recently inaugurated, and a
number of good galleries and arts organiza-
tions are looking at spaces to open next year.
The Marrakech Biennale is the longest-running
arts festival in the Maghreb. From its humble
beginnings back in 2005, it has grown into an
organic beast, alive with energy and enthusi-
asm. They say that, in Morocco, anything is
possible but nothing is certain. This has been
our mantra. Anything is possible, and who
knows what direction the Biennale will take.
One thing that is certain is that it is always
going to be unexpected.
II
La Biennale de Marrakech est ne il y a dix ans,
en raction certains vnements mondiaux.
Les gouvernements occidentaux semblaient
alors donner toute la zone de lAfrique du
nord et du Moyen-Orient un portrait uni-
forme, entach par la mance et la paranoa.
Il devenait alors vraiment ncessaire de trou-
ver une plateforme pour quides et idologies
soient dbattues. Le meilleur moyen de le faire
ntait-il pas de passer par lart ?
Lart nous permet de discuter des questions
controverses sans offenser personne, il nous
permet de jouer avec les concepts, de changer
davis, de dvelopper un discours critique et
daffter nos argumentaires. En prenant part
la culture contemporaine, un pays montre
quil rend hommage la libre-pense et quil a
conance en son avenir.
Grce au processus de production de toutes les
uvres dart Marrakech, qui passe par une
collaboration directe des artistes avec les tu-
diants universitaires et lutilisation par ceux-ci
des talents des artisans et techniciens locaux,
le public marocain est sollicit et curieux
bien avant que les visiteurs internationaux ne
voient ces uvres. Nous savions dailleurs que
nous avions russi quelque chose lorsquun
commentateur dcrivit la Biennale comme le
Davos du monde de lart .
La Biennale nest pas simplement loccasion de
discuter des parallles et des diffrences entre
cultures, mais aussi de crer des passerelles
entre diffrentes formes dart. Nous adorons
que lun de nos collaborateurs puisse, sans ef-
fort apparent, contribuer une table ronde sur
le cinma avant de semparer dun ukulele pour
jouer lors dune soire cabaret. Nous compre-
nons la contribution quapporte chaque par-
ticipant, non seulement en soutenant lvne-
ment par lachat dun billet, mais aussi en tant
prsent pour interroger les artistes et, plus tard,
en parlant de la manifestation autour de lui.
Il sagit dun point de vue personnel, mais les
artistes sont vraiment des gens uniques ! Je ne
cesse dtre fascine par la manire dont ils
voient le monde, travers un prisme bien diff-
rent du ntre, mortels. Ils possdent un systme
extrasensoriel qui ragit des stimuli cachs et
le gnie de transformer ceci en une chose tan-
gible que nous puissions admirer.
Jusqu aujourdhui, Marrakech ne possdait
presque aucune infrastructure ddie lart.
La ville, avec son riche mlange de traditions
ancestrales, sa lumire magnique, ses sons et
odeurs exotiques, et sa quantit impression-
nante dexcellents artisans pleins denthou-
siasme et dingniosit, constitue un environne-
ment stimulant, bien que parfois difcile, pour
un artiste. Lclairage de la Biennale et lintrt
quelle suscite auprs des mdias provoquent
dans lendroit un sursaut de crativit. Les r-
sidences dartistes sont en train dtre ouvertes,
le Marrakech Museum for Photography & Vi-
sual Arts (MMP+) a t rcemment inaugur
et un certain nombre de galeries et de centres
dart recherchent des locaux en vue dune ou-
verture lan prochain.
De tous les festivals des arts du Maghreb, la
Biennale de Marrakech est celui qui a dur le
plus longtemps. Ayant dbut de faon trs
modeste en 2005, il a grandi pour devenir une
crature bien vivante, gone dnergie et den-
thousiasme. Au Maroc, on dit ceci : Tout est
possible mais rien nest sr. Nous en avons
fait notre devise. Tout est possible, et qui sait
quelle direction prendra la Biennale. Une chose
est sre toutefois, cest quelle sera toujours
inattendue.
Avant-propos I
Vanessa Branson, Prsidente et Fondatrice
III
Foreword II
Amine Kabbaj, Vice President
WHERE ARE WE NOW? This is the theme and
leitmotif of Marrakech Biennale 5, held from
February 26 to March 31, 2014.

Yes, the Marrakech Biennale is back, to pro-
vide unforgettable experiences through exhi-
bitions, performances, and screenings, con-
ceived under the direction of Hicham Khalidi
for Visual & Sound Arts, Jamal Abdennassar
for Cinema & Video, Driss Ksikes for Litera-
ture, Khalid Tamer for Performing Arts, and
with the participation of Karim El Achak for
Architecture.

I wish to pay tribute to Vanessa Branson, who
launched this exceptional event ten years ago
and has supported it nancially. I would like
to thank Alya Sebti for her important work as
artistic director, Stefan Holwe, our managing
director, and Alia Radman, our director of op-
erations.

Organizing an event like this is not easy given
the resources at our disposal. The Marrakech
Biennale should and will become a Moroccan
event nanced in part by Moroccan govern-
ment agencies, by private, domestic, and in-
ternational institutions and sponsors, as well
as by organizations that have a general afli-
ation with art.

The Marrakech Biennale intends to occupy a
prominent place in the network of international
biennials, from Buenos Aires in Argentina to
Gwangju in South Korea, from North America
to Europe to the Middle East.

From an early stage of this fth edition, we
benetted from the high patronage of His Maj-
esty the King Mohammed VI. This has given
our event visibility and helped us raise funds
from national and international organizations.

The fourth edition of the Marrakech Biennale
so benecial to the city of Marrakech and to
the art world in our country made it possible
to achieve international standing and look for-
ward to a long future. The four previous edi-
tions were made possible thanks in large part
to Vanessa Bransons determination, will, and
faith in art, as well as to Marrakechs ability to
host the events.

Vanessa Branson, along with all the people
who have helped and supported her over the
past ten years, will ensure that Marrakech Bi-
ennale 5 is a tting culmination of all the tire-
less hard work invested, reecting the efforts
of everyone involved.

This initiative was born of a desire for open-
ness, in order to promote encounters and ex-
changes between cultures. Today, it is a means
of rising up against displays of hatred and in-
tolerance between cultures and civilizations.
That this event takes place in Marrakech and
in Morocco is not trivial. These have always
been places where the East, Africa, and the
West meet, and it is important for this to be
preserved.

I am very honored to have been appointed to
lead this exciting venture with our team and
I hope that, together, we will be equal to the
task.
IV
Avant-propos II
Amine Kabbaj, Vice-prsident
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ? Tel
est le thme et le leitmotiv de la 5
me
dition de
la Biennale de Marrakech qui se tient du 26
fvrier au 31 mars 2014.

Oui, la Biennale de Marrakech est de retour
pour vous faire vivre des moments inoubliables
grce aux expositions, performances et pro-
jections conues par Hicham Khalidi pour les
Arts Visuels & Sonores, par Jamal Abdennas-
sar pour le Cinma & Vido, par Driss Ksikes
pour la Littrature, par Khalid Tamer pour les
Arts Vivants, et avec la participation de Karim
El Achak pour lArchitecture.

Je tiens rendre hommage Vanessa Bran-
son qui a lanc Marrakech, il y a dix ans,
cet vnement exceptionnel et qui la soutenu
nancirement. Je remercie Alya Sebti pour
son important travail la direction artistique,
Stefan Holwe, notre directeur gnral, et Alia
Radman, qui est charge de la direction des
oprations.

Organiser un tel vnement nest pas chose fa-
cile tant donn les moyens notre disposition.
La Biennale de Marrakech veut et doit devenir
un vnement marocain nanc en partie par
les instances gouvernementales marocaines,
par les institutions et mcnes privs nationaux
et internationaux ainsi que par les organismes
aflis lart en gnral.

La Biennale de Marrakech veut aussi occuper
une place de choix dans le concert des bien-
nales internationales, de Buenos Aires en Ar-
gentine Gwangju en Core en passant par les
biennales nord-amricaines, europennes et du
Moyen-Orient.

Pour cette 5
me
dition, nous avons bnci
trs tt du haut patronage de Sa Majest le Roi
Mohammed VI, ce qui a donn une visibilit
notre vnement et aid lever des fonds au-
prs des organismes nationaux et internatio-
naux.

La 4
me
dition de la Biennale de Marrakech
a permis datteindre un rayonnement inter-
national et de prtendre la prennisation de
cette manifestation bnque la ville de Mar-
rakech et au monde de lart dans notre pays.
Les quatre ditions prcdentes ont pu se tenir
en grande partie grce la dtermination de
Vanessa Branson, sa volont et sa foi en
lart ainsi qu la capacit de la ville de Mar-
rakech de les accueillir.

Vanessa Branson, de mme que toutes les per-
sonnes qui lont aide et soutenue durant ces
dix dernires annes, feront en sorte que la
5
me
dition de la Biennale de Marrakech soit
laboutissement dun travail intense, sans re-
lche, limage des efforts de tous.

Cette initiative est ne dun dsir et dune volon-
t douverture an de favoriser les rencontres
et les changes entre cultures. Aujourdhui, elle
apparat comme un moyen de slever contre
les manifestations de haine et dintolrance
entre les cultures et les civilisations. Quelle
se droule Marrakech et au Maroc nest pas
anodin : ces endroits ont toujours t un carre-
four entre lOrient, lAfrique et lOccident et il
est important de prserver ceci.

Je suis trs honor davoir t dsign pour diri-
ger cette aventure passionnante auprs de notre
quipe et espre que nous serons, ensemble,
la hauteur de la tche.
V
Preface
A Permanent Heterochrony
Simon Njami
It already begins to ring out through our inter-
pretation of a simple pitcher; then as the a pri-
ori latent theme of all the plastic arts, though it
is really central to all the magic of music; then,
nally, in the ultimate self-encounter, in the
comprehended darkness of the lived moment,
as this one thing leaps up and hears itself in
the inconstruable, absolute question, the prob-
lem of the We in itself.
1
Ernst Bloch
Every exhibition is addressed to someone. To
a receiver whom we commonly call a public
or audience. And the difculty of conceiving
this event, called an exhibition or biennial, is
that the public is anonymous and vague, an
invisible entity. Still, we would be wrong to
confuse invisibility with a kind of non-existence
that would give total de facto power to the
exhibitions director. For the latter, although
struggling with his own ideas, must subject
himself to at least one obligation: to envi-
sion the absolute question that Ernst Bloch
evoked, and to consider the watchword We
as a starting point for all projects intended for
a public. How then to negotiate the very idea
of a public?
The question inevitably takes us back to the
question of time, since the notion of public
that we constantly evoke is uid, shifting, and
sometimes intangible. By interrogating the
present, we refer to the past, while being en-
tirely preoccupied by the future, as Maurice
Merleau-Ponty explains:
Time remains the same because the
past is a previous future and a recent
present, the present is an impending
past and a recent future, and nally,
the future is a present and even past to
come. This is to say that each dimen-
sion of time is treated or intended as
something other than itself--which is to
say, in short, because there is at the
core of time a gaze .
2
This gaze at the core of time is what forges the
intimate relationship that each of us maintains
with history or with current events. And it is
this special gaze that helps us in our attempt
to respond to a few questions, which are not
exhaustive: Whom are we targeting? What
public do we want to address when we con-
ceive of exhibitions outside of spaces intended
for this purpose? How can we make contem-
porary art accessible, including in countries
where infrastructure is lacking?
2
This is the challenge that Marrakech Biennale
5 intends to meet, by engaging with two es-
sential concepts at the center of this millenni-
ums self-questioning: time and community. By
posing this seemingly simple but obviously
complex question, Where are we now? this
Biennale invites us on an ontological quest.
No future is imaginable, as Merleau-Ponty
writes, if it does not weave itself into times
weft, in a permanent heterochrony.
1
Ernst Bloch, The Spirit of Utopia, Trans. Anthony
A. Nassar (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
2000) 3.
2
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of
Perception, Trans. Donald A. Landes (New York:
Routledge, 2012) 445.
VI
Prface
Une htrochronie permanente
Simon Njami
[L]eur chant se fait entendre dj dchiffr sur
les ancs dun simple pichet, dchiffr comme
le thme latent a priori de tout art plastique
et le thme central de toute magie de la mu-
sique, dchiffr enn dans la dernire rencontre
possible de soi-mme, dans lobscurit lucide
de linstant vcu tel quil souvre dun coup et
se peroit lui-mme dans la question incons-
tructible, la question absolue, le problme en
soi du Nous.
1
Ernst Bloch
Toute exposition sadresse quelquun.
un rcepteur que nous appelons commun-
ment public ou audience. Et la difcult de la
conception de cet vnement que nous nom-
mons exposition ou biennale provient du fait
que le public est une entit anonyme et oue,
invisible. Mais nous aurions tort de confondre
cette invisibilit avec une inexistence qui don-
nerait de fait les pleins pouvoirs au commis-
saire de lexposition. Ce dernier, au moment
o il se dbat avec ses ides, doit se soumettre
au moins une obligation, celle denvisager la
question absolue quvoquait Ernst Bloch.
Et considrer ce mot dordre comme point de
dpart de tout projet destin un public. Com-
ment, ds lors, ngocier avec lide mme de
public ?
Cette question nous renvoie invitablement
celle du temps puisque cette notion que nous
voquons sans cesse est uide et mouvante,
parfois intangible. En interrogeant le temps
prsent, nous nous rfrons au pass tout en
tant entirement proccups par lavenir,
comme lexplique Merleau-Ponty :
Le temps demeure le mme parce que
le pass est un ancien avenir et un pr-
sent rcent, le prsent un pass prochain
et un avenir rcent, lavenir enn un
prsent et mme un pass venir, cest-
-dire parce que chaque dimension du
temps est traite ou vise comme autre
chose quelle-mme, cest--dire, enn,
parce que il y a au cur du temps un
regard (...).
2
Ce regard au cur du temps est ce qui forge
le rapport intime que nous entretenons chacun
avec lHistoire ou lactualit. Et cest ce mme
regard particulier qui nous aide dans notre
tentative de rpondre ces quelques questions
dont je ne dresse pas la liste exhaustive : Qui
visons-nous ? quel public voulons-nous nous
adresser lorsque nous concevons des exposi-
tions en dehors des lieux destins cet effet ?
Comment pouvons-nous rendre lart contem-
porain accessible, y compris dans les pays o
les infrastructures manquent ?
Cest ce d que la 5
me
dition de la Marrakech
Biennale se propose de relever, en sintressant
deux concepts essentiels sur lesquels notre
millnaire sinterroge : le temps et la collecti-
vit. En posant cette question simple en appa-
rence, mais dont la complexit nchappera
personne, Ou sommes-nous maintenant ? ,
cette Biennale nous invite une qute ontolo-
gique. Aucun avenir nest envisageable, comme
lcrit Merleau-Ponty, sil ne sinscrit pas dans
la trame du temps, en une htrochronie per-
manente.
1
Ernst Bloch, The Spirit of Utopia, Trans. Anthony
A. Nassar (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
2000) 3.
2
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of
Perception, Trans. Donald A. Landes (New York:
Routledge, 2012) 445.
18 01
Expanding
Access to
Contemporary
Culture in North
Africa
Alya Sebti
Marrakech:
A Historical
Overview
Hamid Triki
Exhibition
Venues
Accrotre laccs
la culture
contemporaine
en Afrique du
Nord
Alya Sebti
Marrakech:
Aperu
historique
Hamid Triki
Lieux
dexpositions
Introduction Introduction
03
Introduction
Expanding Access to
Contemporary Culture
in North Africa
Alya Sebti, Artistic Director
The ideal concept behind a Biennale is two-fold: culturally re-
lated to the local traditions of the exhibition site but open to
international exchanges. Hou Hanru
For centuries Marrakech has been an intellectual and political
crossroad of North Africa. Its plural and porous roots, as
described by the philosopher Edouard Glissant, are nurtured
by its sundry cultural inuences stretching south across Sub-Sa-
haran Africa, east by way of the Middle East and Asia, north
through Europe, and west to the Americas. Yet Morocco, and
more extensively North Africa, has reached a critical juncture:
the regions complex socio-political landscape is merging with
a widespread urge to democratize access to culture. We are
witness to a new momentum, and it is urgent both to question
the circumstances and to invite a broader audience to take part
in a constructive dialogue of aesthetics.
The Marrakech Biennale was founded to address challeng-
ing socio-political debates through the lens of the arts. It aims
to create a trilingual artistic platform in French, English, and
Arabic that leverages the work of Moroccos contemporary
cultural scene by stimulating conversations between local and
international artists, writers, lmmakers, musicians, and chore-
ographers. After ten years this festival has become not only a
critical site of experimentation in exhibition making, it has
extended the parameters of the exhibition form to incorporate
more discursive, conversational, and geo-political discussions.
WHERE ARE WE NOW? seeks to bolster the biennials role as
an invaluable contributor to cultural and social transformation
in Morocco today. This unstable institution, as Carlos Basual-
do denes biennials, does not completely belong to the system
and it can give rise to subversive possibilities. The Marrakech
Biennales strength lies in its instability: it is an open laboratory,
revealing interstices and creating hyphens.
Marrakech Biennale 5 was conceived as a dialogue among
four disciplines: visual and sound arts, literature, cinema and
video, and performing arts. The titles open question address-
es the activated spectator to analyze his or her reality from
03
Introduction
Accrotre laccs
la culture contemporaine
en Afrique du Nord
Alya Sebti, Directrice artistique
Le concept idal qui sous-tend une Biennale est double : avoir
un lien culturel avec les traditions locales du lieu dexposition
mais tre ouvert aux changes internationaux. Hou Hanru
Depuis des sicles, Marrakech est une plaque tournante intel-
lectuelle et politique en Afrique du nord. Ses racines multi-
ples et poreuses, telles que dcrites par le philosophe Edouard
Glissant, se nourrissent de ses diverses inuences culturelles qui
stendent vers le sud travers lAfrique sub-saharienne, vers
lest en passant par le Moyen-Orient et lAsie, vers le nord
travers lEurope et vers lOuest en direction des Amriques.
Cependant le Maroc - et plus gnralement lAfrique du nord
est arriv un carrefour dterminant : le paysage socio-poli-
tique complexe de la rgion est en train dtre pntr par une
demande croissante de dmocratisation de laccs la culture.
Nous assistons lmergence dun lan nouveau et il est urgent
den interroger les circonstances comme dinviter un public plus
large participer un dialogue constructif sur lesthtique.
La Biennale de Marrakech a t cre pour initier des dbats
socio-politiques dlicats en adoptant la perspective des arts. Elle
vise btir une plateforme artistique trilingue franais, anglais
et arabe qui met en valeur le travail des membres de la scne
culturelle contemporaine au Maroc et sollicite des discussions
entre artistes, crivains, ralisateurs, musiciens et chorgraphes
marocains et trangers. Aprs dix annes dexistence, ce festival
est devenu non seulement un lieu dexprimentation important
pour la ralisation dexpositions, il a diversi les paramtres
dterminant la forme dune exposition an dy inclure des dis-
cussions plus discursives, plus spontanes et plus gopolitiques.
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ? cherche accrotre
le rle de la Biennale en tant que contributeur inestimable aux
transformations culturelles et sociales qui se produisent actuel-
lement au Maroc. Cette institution instable, pour reprendre
la dnition des biennales donne par Carlos Basualdo, nap-
partient pas totalement au systme et peut susciter lclosion de
possibilits subversives. La force de la Biennale de Marrakech
tient son instabilit : cest un laboratoire ouvert, qui revle les
interstices et cre des traits dunion.
05
new perspectives. The concept of an open political arena, the
agora, or the Jamaato use the Arabic expression for a site
of community and a space for dialogueruns as a thread
throughout the multiple, concurrent presentations.
Visual & Sound Arts, curated by Hicham Khalidi, hosts a ma-
jority of site-specic artworks, produced in and inspired by the
context of Marrakech. This exhibition is integrated into con-
versations of duality, plurality, heritage, socio-political change,
and contradiction posed by the citys unique legacy and its
contemporary cultural predicament.
Artists and authors selected by Literature curator Driss Ksikes,
a Moroccan writer and playwright, intervene in Jamaa El Fna
square, Marrakechs spiritual heart and the principal site of
transmission of the citys oral heritage. Ksikes presents a series
of round tables and performative lectures connecting perform-
ing arts to literature, and comic art to visual art and literature.
These incursions into public arenas rid literature of its classical,
elitist boundaries in a country still plagued by illiteracy, propos-
ing art as an experience of emancipation.
Cinema & Video is curated by Jamal Abdennassar, founder
of the pioneering video installation festival Casaprojecta. His
exhibition, showcasing video installations in unconventional lo-
cations, considers contemporary creations from North Africa in
conversation with other regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Afri-
ca and the Middle East. Film screenings and round tables are
enhanced by a Carte Blanche at the legendary Cinmathque
de Tanger.
This year the Biennale also inaugurates a Performing Arts pro-
gram organized by Khalid Tamer, founder of the Awalnart
street artist festival in Marrakech. This important addition gives
prominence to street performances that invite passersby to take
part spontaneously. Tamers presentation interrogates tensions
between the contemporary and the traditional, connecting the
Biennales two primary sites: the more traditional space of the
Medina and the modern area of Gueliz.

WHERE ARE WE NOW? hosts a further ten, independently
organized and funded Parallel Projects that have been select-
ed by the Biennales artistic steering committee. They feature
a range of satellite exhibitions, including several focusing on
sound as a means of disseminating and diffusing art in public
space. These local and international projects scattered through-
out Marrakech reect the creativity and rapidly changing per-
Introduction
Expanding Access to Contemporary Culture in North Africa Alya Sebti

La Biennale de Marrakech 5 a t conue comme un dialogue
entre quatre disciplines : les arts visuels et sonores, la littrature,
le cinma et la vido, ainsi que les arts de la scne. La ques-
tion ouverte, qui lui a t donne pour titre, invite le spectateur
stimul analyser sa propre ralit sous de nouveaux angles.
Le concept dune arne politique ouverte, lagora ou la Jamaa
pour reprendre lexpression arabe qui dsigne un lieu commu-
nautaire et un espace de dialogue constitue le l rouge qui relie
les nombreuses expositions simultanes.
Lexposition Arts Visuels & Sonores, dont le commissaire est
Hicham Khalidi, comprend une majorit duvres in situ, pro-
duites Marrakech et stant inspires de cet environnement.
Elle sintgre des discussions sur la dualit et la pluralit, lh-
ritage, le changement socio-politique et la contradiction qui se
pose entre le patrimoine unique de la ville et sa situation ac-
tuelle, culturellement difcile.
Les artistes et les crivains choisis par le commissaire littraire
Driss Ksikes, un crivain et dramaturge marocain, intervien-
dront sur la place Jamaa El Fna, cur spirituel de Marrakech
et principal lieu de transmission du patrimoine oral de la ville.
Ksikes prsente une srie de tables rondes et de lectures-perfor-
mances qui lieront les arts de la scne la littrature, lart de la
comdie aux arts visuels et la littrature. Ces incursions dans
des espaces publics permettent de sortir la littrature de son
cadre classique et litiste dans un pays encore min par lanal-
phabtisme, lart tant ici propos comme exprience manci-
patrice.
Cest Jamal Abdennassar, fondateur du festival pionnier dins-
tallations vido Casaprojecta, qui sest occup de Cinma &
Vido. Son exposition, qui prsente des installations vido dans
des endroits atypiques, sintresse aux crations contemporaines
dAfrique du nord en lien avec dautres rgions, en particulier
lAfrique subsaharienne et le Moyen-Orient. Aux projections de
lms et aux tables rondes viennent sajouter des Cartes Blanches
organises la lgendaire cinmathque de Tanger.
Cette anne, la Biennale inaugure galement un volet Arts de la
scne, conu par Khalid Tamer, fondateur du festival des arts de
la rue Awalnart Marrakech. Cet important dveloppement
permet de mettre en avant des performances de rue qui suscitent
la participation spontane des passants. La programmation de
Tamer interroge les tensions entre le contemporain et le tradi-
tionnel, mettant en relation les deux principaux sites de la Bien-
Introduction
Accrotre laccs la culture contemporaine en Afrique du Nord Alya Sebti
05
07
spectives alive in the city and across the country. By involving
partners and fringe programs, the Biennale highlights the work
of local cultural initiatives in Marrakech and expands the perim-
eters of its ourishing creativity.
After growing organically for over a decade, the Marrakech
Biennale has arrived at a turning point. It must nd a way both
to anchor itself permanently in Morocco and to augment its
role as a site of international exchange. To accomplish this, it
must participate in the countrys economic and political reali-
ties while maintaining autonomy and freedom of speech. Mar-
rakech Biennale 5 is taking signicant steps toward embedding
itself in the city, while raising awareness of the cultural chal-
lenges to and opportunities for its local audience.
WHERE ARE WE NOW? is committed to raising the Mar-
rakech communitys access to contemporary art through effec-
tive, alternative education and a widespread internship pro-
gram. Raising the critical awareness of young Moroccans not
only helps to create a more receptive audience, it cultivates
the professionalization of this audience over time. Entwining
itself in the citys social fabric by engaging with its youth will
enable the Biennale to one day achieve its primary objective of
fostering equitable access to cultural goods and services for
Marrakech inhabitants.
The Marrakech Biennale has long aspired to be completely tri-
lingual. WHERE ARE WE NOW? aims to go one step further
and to intervene verbally in the public space using Darija, or
Moroccan Arabic. Although Darija is not recognized as one of
Moroccos ofcial dialects, it is the countrys most geograph-
ically widespread and commonly spoken language. Asking
Where are we now? in Darija is not only conrmation that
the Biennale speaks to its local audience, it also fullls an abid-
ing dream: to become a platform that fosters permanent cultural
structures capable of gathering a more receptive and profes-
sionalized local audience, where the access to cultural services
is no longer solely dedicated to an elite.
With this approach, WHERE ARE WE NOW? aims to con-
tribute to a fundamental reection on our society, encouraging
participants and a broader, activated Moroccan community to
take part in a cultural process open to absolutely everyone.
Introduction
nale : lespace traditionnel de la Mdina et le quartier moderne
de Gueliz.
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ? accueille de surcrot
dix Projets Parallles, organiss et nancs de manire indpen-
dante, qui ont t slectionns par le comit artistique direc-
teur de la Biennale. Ces projets offrent une varit dexpositions
annexes, dont certaines emploient des dispositifs sonores pour
propager et diffuser leur contenu dans des espaces publics. Ces
projets nationaux et internationaux, dissmins travers Mar-
rakech, retent la crativit et les points de vue en volution
rapide qui animent la ville et le pays tout entier. En impliquant
dautres partenaires et programmes indpendants, la Biennale
valorise des initiatives culturelles locales Marrakech et largit
le primtre de sa crativit foisonnante.
Aprs avoir suivi sa croissance naturelle pendant plus de dix ans,
la Biennale de Marrakech est parvenu un tournant. Elle doit
trouver le moyen, et de sancrer de faon permanente au Maroc,
et daccrotre son rle en tant que lieu dchange international.
Pour ce faire, elle doit prendre part aux ralits conomiques
et politiques du pays tout en conservant son autonomie et sa
libert dexpression. La Biennale de Marrakech 5 est en train de
prendre des mesures signicatives pour sinstaller dans la ville,
tout en favorisant une prise de conscience des ds et des op-
portunits culturels quelle apporte son public au niveau local.
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ? sengage amliorer
laccs des habitants de Marrakech lart contemporain au tra-
vers de formations alternatives efcaces et un programme de
stages signicatif. Aider les jeunes Marocains dvelopper leur
sensibilit critique permet non seulement de disposer dun pu-
blic plus rceptif, mais contribue la professionalisation de ce
public sur le long terme. Pntrer dans le tissu social de la ville
en se faisant connatre auprs des jeunes permettra la Bien-
nale datteindre un jour son objectif premier : offrir un accs
quitable aux biens et aux services culturels aux habitants de
Marrakech.
Depuis longtemps, la Biennale de Marrakech aspire devenir
totalement trilingue. O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ?
cherche faire un pas de plus en proposant des interventions
dans des espaces publics en Darija ou arabe marocain. Bien
que le Darija ne soit pas reconnu comme dialecte ofciel au
Maroc, il sagit de la langue la plus couramment parle dans
le pays et la plus rpandue gographiquement. Demander O
sommes-nous maintenant ? en Darija ne prouve pas seulement
Introduction
07
09
Introduction
que la Biennale sadresse au public marocain, mais permet aussi
de raliser un rve incessant : devenir une plateforme accueillant
des structures culturelles permanentes, susceptibles de rassem-
bler un public plus rceptif et plus professionel au niveau local,
et o laccs aux services culturels ne soit plus rserv exclusive-
ment une lite.
Par cette approche, O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ?
espre contribuer une rexion fondamentale sur notre soci-
t, en encourageant ses participants et un plus grand nombre de
Marocains motivs prendre part un processus culturel ouvert
tous, sans exception.
Introduction
09
11
Introduction
Marrakech:
A Historical Overview
Hamid Triki
Marrakech is one of the most prestigious impe-
rial cities of Morocco. Its name, whose mean-
ing remains enigmatic, has been used for cen-
turies to refer to the entire country. The term
maroquinerie, an artisanal activity of crucial
importance to the economic life of the city, is
also derived from its name.
A holy city of numerous mausoleums that
still remain the object of a fervent popular
faith, Marrakech is also known as Madinat
SabAtourijal, or the city of the seven patron
saints. A man-made oasis created for leisure
and human survival, the city was subsequently
given the name Al-Bahja, or city that warms
the heart.
Set in the Haouz basin, between the hills of
the Northern Jbilet and the High Atlas in the
south, Marrakech stands at the crossroad of
many transit routes. Its location has allowed it,
throughout history, to serve as a depot as well
as a place of exchange.
Beginning at distant riverbanks in Niger, the
caravan routes traverse the Atlas after the way
stations of the oases of the pre-Sahara and
then converge at Marrakech, where they open
up toward the harbors of the Atlantic and
Mediterranean. The uctuations of these trade
routes dictated the citys stages of expansion
and contraction. Its prosperity also depended
on its function as a capital, as well as on the
control that the city was able to exert over the
wider regions system of commercial trade.
The history of the city appears as a line bro-
ken into three distinct periods of remarkable
expansion: the Almoravid and Almohad pe-
riod from the late eleventh to the middle of
the thirteenth centuries; the Saadian period
of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centu-
ries; and the Alawite period beginning in the
mid-eighteenth century. The twentieth century
has revolutionized the historical role of the
city, although Marrakech has once again be-
come the hub for relations with the Moroccan
provinces of the Sahara.
It was not by chance that Saharansthe Al-
moravidsfounded, circa 1070, the rst nu-
cleus of this city that was destined to become,
in the space of one generation, the capital
of an empire. At the beginning of the twelfth
century, Ali ibn Youssouf urbanized the site by
building a water supply, paved roads, and the
mosque that still bears his name, which be-
came the main center of the city. In 1127, he
surrounded the city with a nine-kilometer wall
that still exists today.
With the Almohads, Marrakech, including
the Kasbah, a fortied city, became the most
important metropolis of the Muslim West. At
the end of the twelfth century, its population is
estimated to have reached 100,000. As the
capital of an empire encompassing the entire
Maghreb as well as Muslim Spain, its prosper-
ity owed to its domination of the trans-Saharan
trade routes and its ability to redistribute the
regions products. It was also an intellectual
capital that attracted the best minds of the era,
including Ibn Toyfal, Ibn Zohr, and Ibn Rochid.
After the Almohads, Marrakech, abandoned
as a capital, entered a phase of urban decline
that continued until the mid-sixteenth century.
The recovery of the Saharan trade routes and
the development of cross-Atlantic relations
with Europe created a favorable environment
Introduction
Marrakech:
Aperu historique
Hamid Triki
Marrakech est lune des plus prestigieuses villes
impriales du Maroc. Son nom, dont le sens de-
meure nigmatique, est utilis depuis des sicles
pour dsigner lensemble du pays. En drive
dailleurs le terme de maroquinerie, une activi-
t artisanale limportance sans conteste dans
la vie conomique de la cit.
Ville sainte aux innombrables mausoles
qui font encore lobjet dune fervente foi po-
pulaire, Marrakech est aussi dsigne sous le
nom de Madinat Sabatourijal ou ville des sept
saints protecteurs. Oasis btie par la main de
lhomme, cre pour le loisir et la survie des
hommes, elle a reu par la suite le nom imag
de Al-Bahja ou ville qui rjouit le cur.
Implante dans la dpression du Haouz, entre
les collines des Jbilet au Nord et le Haut-Atlas
au Sud, Marrakech se situe au carrefour dun
large nombre de voies de circulation. Sa situa-
tion lui a permis, au l de lhistoire, de servir de
lieu dchanges et de ville-entrept.
Partant des lointaines rives du Niger, les pistes
caravanires traversent lAtlas aprs les relais
des oasis prsahariennes et convergent vers
Marrakech do elles se dploient en direction
des ports atlantiques et mditerranens. Les
uctuations de ces voies dchanges ont dict
les phases dexpansion ou de rgression de la
ville. Sa prosprit dpend ainsi la fois de
sa fonction de capitale et du contrle quelle
a pu exercer historiquement sur ce systme
dchanges commerciaux au large primtre.
Lhistoire de la ville se prsente plutt comme
une ligne brise o se distinguent trois priodes
dexpansion remarquables : de la n du XI
me

sicle au milieu du XIII
me
sicle, avec les Al-
moravides et les Almohades ; tout le XVI
me
et
le dbut du XVII
me
sicles avec les Saadiens ;
enn, partir du milieu du XVIII
me
sicle avec
les Alaouites. Le XX
me
sicle a boulevers ces
fonctionnements historiques habituels, bien
quaujourdhui, Marrakech tende redevenir
le centre nvralgique des relations avec les pro-
vinces marocaines du Sahara.
Ce ne fut pas par pur hasard que des Saha-
riens, les Almoravides, fondrent vers 1070 le
premier noyau de cette cit appele devenir,
en lespace dune gnration, la capitale dun
empire. Au dbut du XII
me
sicle, Ali Ibn
Youssouf urbanisera le site grce ladduction
deau, au pavage des voies et la construction
de la mosque qui porte toujours son nom et
qui devint le principal ple de lagglomration.
En 1127, il entoura la ville dun rempart de 9
kms qui subsiste encore ce jour.
Avec les Almohades, Marrakech, qui comprend
dornavant la Qasba, vritable ville fortie,
devint la cit la plus importante de lOccident
musulman. A la n du XII
me
sicle, sa popula-
tion est estime une centaine de milliers dha-
bitants. Capitale dun Empire englobant tout
le Maghreb et lEspagne musulmane, elle doit
alors sa prosprit notamment au commerce
trans-saharien dont elle domine les axes et re-
distribue les produits. Cest aussi une capitale
intellectuelle qui attire les esprits les plus mi-
nents de lpoque: Ibn Tofayl, Ibn Zohr, Ibn
Rochd y ont diffus leur savoir.
Aprs les Almohades, Marrakech, abandon-
ne en tant que capitale, entre dans une phase
de rgression urbaine dont elle ne se relvera
quau milieu du XVI
me
sicle. La reprise des
changes commerciaux sahariens et le dve-
11
13
for the city, which once again became the
capital of the country under the Saadians. The
citys revival was reected in the rehabilita-
tion of the water supply system, the develop-
ment and emergence of new neighborhoods
equipped with new infrastructure, the creation
of the Mellah for the large Jewish community,
and the refurbishment of the Kasbah around
Palais Badii.
Beginning in 1669, Marrakech was called
upon to assume, alongside Fez, the role of
capital and became the residence of the ruling
Alawites. Under the reign of Mohamed ben
Abdallah (17571790), the city became re-
juvenated. The rulers strong interest in Mar-
rakech and his tireless efforts provided the
urban center with a unique artistic character.
Historical texts describe Mohamed ben Ab-
dallah camping amid the Kasbah ruins and
personally directing the restoration process,
which led to the rise of palaces, gardens, for-
tications, mosques, and madrasas. This re-
markable work also affected the old Medina,
transforming it from a public building where
the mark of the great ruler-builder could not be
seen, paving the way for his successors.
Among them, Sidi Mohamed Ibn Abderrah-
man deserves special mention. He ordered the
replanting of the large gardens of the Agdal
and the Mnara, the construction of charming
pavilions within them, the restoration of wa-
ter basins, and the creation of the rst mod-
ern factories. These projects were destined to
confront the European economic expansion of
the nineteenth century, which marked the end
of the traditional history of Marrakech, now
ready to face the demands of the twentieth
century.
Introduction
Marrakech: A Historical Overview Hamid Triki
loppement des relations outre-Atlantique avec
lEurope crent une conjoncture favorable pour
la ville, qui redeviendra la capitale du pays avec
les Saadiens. Sa renaissance se traduit par la re-
mise en tat du rseau dalimentation en eau,
le dveloppement et lapparition de quartiers
nouveaux dots des infrastructures ncessaires,
la cration du Mellah destin limportante
communaut juive, le ramnagement de la
Qasba autour du Palais Badii.
A partir de 1669, Marrakech est appele
assumer, avec Fez, le rle de capitale et de-
venir rsidence des Souverains alaouites. Et ce
sera sous le rgne de Mohamed Ibn Abdallah
(17571790) que la ville retrouvera son ani-
mation. Lintrt particulier que le souverain
lui porte et les efforts sans relche de celui-ci
donnent au centre urbain une vritable em-
preinte artistique spcique. Les textes his-
toriques dcrivent Mohamed Ibn Abdallah,
campant au milieu de la Qasba en ruine et diri-
geant personnellement les travaux de restaura-
tion. Palais, jardins, mchouars, fortications,
mosques et mdersas y surgissent. Ce travail
remarquable touchera galement lancienne
mdina, de sorte quil nest point ddice
public o lon ne relve lempreinte du grand
Souverain btisseur, qui ouvrira la voie ses
successeurs.
Parmi eux, Sidi Mohamed Ibn Abderrahman
mrite une mention particulire. Marrakech lui
doit la replantation des grands jardins de lAg-
dal et de la Mnara, la construction des char-
mants pavillons de plaisance dans ces mmes
jardins, la restauration des anciens bassins et la
cration des premires usines modernes, desti-
nes affronter lexpansion conomique euro-
penne du XIX
me
sicle, qui marquera la n de
lhistoire traditionnelle de Marrakech, prte
alors affronter les exigences du XX
me
sicle.
Introduction
Marrakech: Aperu historique Hamid Triki
13
15
Introduction
Exhibition
Venues
Palais Badii
Palais Badii was constructed in the six-
teenth century as the palace of Sadid Sharif
Ahmad al-Mansur. Its name translates as in-
comparable, and at the time its beauty, opu-
lence, and architectural grace were legendary.
The palace was stripped of its ornamentation
only a century later to furnish
the palace of Alawid Sharif
Moulay Ismail in the new cap-
ital of Mekns. Today only
the bare bones of its former
glory remain. Palais Badii is
now the site of the Marrakech
Museum for Photography and
Visual Arts (MMP+).
Dar Si Said
Dar Si Said was original-
ly a mansion built by royal
chamberlain Sidi Sad in the
nineteenth century. Its inter-
connecting courtyards and
beautiful Andalusian-style wooden ceilings
today house the Museum of Moroccan Arts.
The museum hosts a collection of Berber crafts,
including carpets, jewelry, weaponry, pottery,
and textiles from Marrakech, the Atlas moun-
tains, and more distant places across Moroc-
co.
Bank Al Maghrib
The historic Bank Al Maghrib is located
on Marrakechs Jamaa El Fna square. Once
a pillar of the central bank of the Kingdom of
Morocco the structure now stands empty.
Dar Cherifa
Dar Cherifa is a private home and histor-
ical cultural monument in Marrakech that has
been transformed into a literary caf, restau-
rant, and art gallery. It was restored in 2000.
Its original architecture was protected with the
help of professional artisans who used tradi-
tional craftsmanship and materials.
Dar Cherifa means holy house; the
building was named after the spiritual feel-
ing that one has upon enter-
ing. Today, the painting and
sculpture exhibitions, literary
events, concerts, storytelling
events, and calligraphy and
ceramics workshops that it
hosts have made it into one of
the Red Citys major cultural
hotspots. It is a lively, authen-
tic, and interactive space that
is open to everyone.
El Fenn
The building, which now
houses the boutique hotel El
Fenn dates back to the six-
teenth century. The aptly named Riad El Fenn,
meaning house of art, has been the epicenter
of the Marrakech Biennale since its inception
in 2004. Throughout the festival the hotel hosts
ofcial Biennale parties, lunches, and talks. It
is also the current home of a unique collection
of contemporary art.
Riad Denise Masson
This riad, formerly the Riad El Hafdi, be-
longed to Denise Masson, a nurse, social
worker, and noted translator of the Koran.
She died in Marrakech in 1994 at the age of
93. Massson donated the riad to the French
Institute of Marrakech, which now organizes
cultural events there.
Bank Al Magrib
Introduction
Lieux
dexpositions
Palais Badii
Le Palais Badii a t construit au XVI
e
sicle par le sultan saadien Ahmed al-Mansour
Dhahb. Son nom signie lincomparable .
La beaut architecturale du palais et son
opulence devinrent vite lgendaires. Un sicle
aprs son dication, ses ornements furent en-
leves pour dcorer le palais
dAlawid Sharif Moulay Is-
mail dans sa nouvelle capitale
de Mekns. Aujourdhui bien
peu de la splendeur originelle
reste visible. Le Palais El Badii
accueille aussi le Muse de la
Photographie et des Arts Vi-
suels de Marrakech (MMP+).
Dar Si Said
Dar Si Said fut construit
lorigine pour le chambel-
lan royal Sidi Sad au XIXe
sicle. Ses patios en enlade
et ses magniques plafonds en
bois de style andalou abritent dsormais le Mu-
se des Arts Marocains. Le muse possde une
collection dartisanat berbre : tapis, bijoux,
armes, poteries et textiles de Marrakech, des
montagnes de lAtlas et des rgions alentours.
Bank Al Maghrib
La Bank historique Al Maghrib slve
sur la place Jamaa El Fna de Marrakech. Na-
gure lun des piliers de la banque centrale du
Royaume du Maroc, la structure est dsormais
vide.
Dar Cherifa
Dar Cherifa est une maison prive et un
monument historique de Marrakech, qui a
t transform en caf littraire, restaurant et
galerie dart. Cette maison a t restaure en
2000 dans le respect de son architecture origi-
nelle en utilisant des matriaux traditionnels et
des techniques sculaires.
Dar Cherifa signie la maison sainte.
Elle a t nomme ainsi du fait de latmos-
phre spirituelle qui rgne dans le lieu. Au-
jourdhui, des expositions
de peintures et de sculptures,
des rendez-vous littraires et
des concerts y sont organiss.
Cela fait de Dar Cherifa une
institution culturelle incon-
tournable de la ville rouge, un
authentique lieu de vie et de
rencontre ouvert tous.
El Fenn
Le btiment, qui abrite
aujourdhui lhtel boutique
El Fenn, date du XVIe sicle.
Le Riad El Fenn, porte bien
son nom, puisque cela signie
maison des arts. Il a t lpicentre de la Bien-
nale de Marrakech depuis sa cration en 2004.
Durant toute la manifestation, lhtel accueille
les rceptions ofcielles de la Biennale, des
djeuners et des discussions. Il abrite aussi au-
jourdhui une collection unique dart contem-
porain.
Riad Denise Masson
Ce Riad, anciennement appel Riad El
Hafdi a appartenu Denise Masson. Cette in-
rmire, travailleuse sociale et traductrice de
rfrence du Coran, dcda en 1994 lge de
93 ans Marrakech. Elle t don de son logis
LInstitut franais de la ville, qui y organise
dsormais des manifestations culturelles.
Thtre Royal
15
17
Introduction
Exhibition Venues
Introduction
Lieux dexpositions
Thtre Royal
Thtre Royal de Marrakech is an un- n-
ished opera house and outdoor theater situat-
ed in Gueliz. Plans for the theater began in the
1970s with Tunisian architect Charles Boccara
at the helm. The exterior, reception hall, and
outdoor theater were completed and
inaugurated in 2001 after 25 years of con-
struction. However the 800-seat opera house
remains an unin- habited, cavernous concrete
edice.
LBlassa
LBlassa is housed in an abandoned Art
Deco building on the corner of Rue Libert
and Rue Yougoslavie. Erected in 1932, the
building is situated in the district of Gueliz,
developed while Morocco was still a French
protectorate. This building is typical of Gue-
liz, characterized by wide boulevards, round-
abouts, and modern buildings inspired by
Haussmanns urban transformation of Paris in
the late nineteenth century.
Cinema Colise
The Cinema Colise is an iconic movie
theater located in Marrakechs Ville Nouvelle
neighborhood. It was designed by the archi-
tect Georges Peynet, who also redesigned the
Parisian movie theaters Max Linder, Vendme-
Opra, Cambronne, and Paramount-Elyses.
Entirely renovated in 1995, its two-storey pro-
jection room is now digitally equipped.
The Colise screens a wide variety of doc-
umentaries, participates in the opening and
closing ceremonies of Marrakech festivals,
and actively promotes Moroccan, Arab, and
international lm.
Introduction
Exhibition Venues
Introduction
Lieux dexpositions
Thtre Royal
Le Thtre Royal de Marrakech, une salle
dopra inacheve, est situ dans le Guliz. Les
plans de construction du thtre datent des
annes 1970, cons larchitecte tunisien
Charles Boccara. Lextrieur, la rception et un
thtre ciel ouvert ont t construits et inau-
gurs en 2001 aprs 25 ans de travaux. Toute-
fois, la salle dopra prvue pour accueillir 800
personnes demeure une caverne de bton.
LBlassa
LBlassa est tabli dans un immeuble Art
Dco abandonn, au coin de la rue de la Liber-
t et de la rue de Yougoslavie. rig en 1932
durant le protectorat franais, le btiment est
situ dans le quartier du Guliz. Le btiment
est caractristique de ce quartier, marqu par
les larges boulevards, les ronds-points et les
immeubles modernes inspirs des travaux ef-
fectus par Haussmann pour remodeler Paris
dans la deuxime partie du XIX
e
sicle.
Cinema Colise
Le Colise est le cinma mythique de la
nouvelle ville, agenc par larchitecte Georges
Peynet, qui a galement remodel les salles pa-
risiennes du Max Linder, du Vendme-Opra,
du Cambronne et du Paramount-Elyses. En-
tirement rnov en 1995, sa salle de projec-
tion sur deux niveaux est aujourdhui quipe
du numrique.
Il projette des documentaires, participe aux
ouvertures et cltures des grands festivals de
la ville (comme celui du lm), et promeut des
lms marocains arabes et internationaux.

17
18 19
Visual &
Sound Arts
Arts Visuels &
Sonores
Writing
on the Wall
Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
Where
Are We
Now?
Identity as Fiction
Hicham Khalidi
Artist
Biographies
Artists
+
freqout
+
Clara Meister
Ecrire
sur les murs
O
sommes-nous
maintenant?
Identit comme ction
Hicham Khalidi
Biographies
des artistes
Artistes
+
freqout
+
Clara Meister
21
Visual & Sound Arts
Writing on the Wall
In the summer of 2008 and in the spring of
2010, two curious acts of vandalism occurred
in Beirut. The rst took place during a solo
exhibition for the artist Walid Raad at the
Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Karantina. The second
took place during a solo exhibition for the art-
ist Walid Sadek at the Beirut Art Center in Jisr
El Wati. Both instances featured the deface-
ment of text-based works in Arabic.
Raads Part I_Chapter 1_Section 79: Index
XXVI: Artists, which belongs to his ongoing
project Scratching on Things I Could Disa-
vow about the development of infrastructures
for contemporary art in the Arab world, con-
sisted of a list of randomly selected names of
Lebanese painters active from the nineteenth
century until today. Strung together in a hori-
zontal line that wrapped more than two me-
ters around the gallery, the names were ren-
dered in three layers of cut, white vinyl on
white-painted walls.
Sadeks show featured three interrelated se-
ries: Learning To See Less, which the artist de-
scribed as an itinerary for eyes stamped with
violence; Love Is Blind, about the survivors of
civil wars inhabiting ruins; and Mourning in
the Presence of the Corpse, about the inabil-
ity to put conicts to rest (built around an es-
say of the same name featured in Lebanons
inaugural pavilion at the 2007 Venice Bien-
nale), that dealt with, coincidentally, the theft,
destruction, and vandalism of other artworks.
Taken together the three series included deli-
cate pencil drawings, tiny silkscreened texts,
and the mouthpieces of two trumpets jammed
into the wall like a pair of eyes over a cap-
tion that read, Or what my father sees, most
probably.
In both exhibitions, someone took a pen and,
writing directly on the wall, corrected appar-
ent mistakes in the artists Arabic. In Raads
case, the veteran critic Joseph Tarrab xed his
misspelling of the artist Johnny Tahans name.
In Sadeks case, two men identities unknown
but said to have been elder artists or a pair of
critics or friends of the artists father, the car-
toonist Pierre Sadek, used proofreading marks
to address grammatical errors and inconsist-
encies.
Raad gamely turned Tarrabs objection into an
artwork in its own right, with the mistake in
Tahans name leading to a wealth of new work
(using archival material) about the forgotten
oeuvre of a second-rate artist. Sadek, mean-
while, took profound offense. Counterintuitive-
ly, each act seemed driven by elders scolding
the young for their poor language skills and
lack of respect for the culture, for history, for
the world in which they were born.
This generational divide, in and of itself, was
part of the problem. The quasi-vandalism of
these two exhibitions in Beirut speaks of a wid-
er rift in the experience, understanding, and
value of contemporary art in the region, var-
iously described as the Arab world and the
Middle East. That rift falls primarily on issues
of identity and authenticity, which have been
aired elsewhere but remain far from resolved
in cities ranging from Casablanca, Algiers,
and Tunis to Cairo, Damascus, Ramallah, Am-
man, Istanbul, Baghdad, and Beirut.
Raad and Sadek, like many of their peers and
colleagues, were educated abroad. It is often
said that they came back with strange ideas
about what art was and could be, and that
Ecrire sur les murs
Au cours de lt 2008 et du printemps 2010,
deux actes de vandalisme tranges se produi-
sirent Beyrouth. Le premier eut lieu pendant
lexposition en solo de lartiste Walid Raad
la Galerie Sfeir-Semler la Quarantaine. Le
second eut lieu lors de lexposition en solo de
lartiste Walid Sadek au Beyrouth Art Center
de Jisr El Wati. Dans les deux cas, des pices
ralises partir de textes crits en arabe furent
endommages.
Lexposition Part I_Chapter 1_Section 79: In-
dex XXVI: Artists de Raad, qui fait partie dun
projet en cours de ralisation, Scratching on
Things I Could Disavow, sur le dveloppement
des infrastructures destines lart contempo-
rain dans le monde arabe, se compose dune
liste de noms de peintres libanais, choisis au
hasard parmi ceux qui ont exist du XIXe
sicle nos jours. Relis les uns aux autres en
une ligne horizontale qui se dploie sur plus
de deux mtres autour de la galerie, les noms
ont t matrialiss par trois couches de vinyle
blanc sur des murs peints en blanc.

Lexposition de Sadek prsentait trois sries en
lien les unes avec les autres : Learning To See
Less, que lartiste dcrit comme un itinraire
destin aux regards marqus par la violence,
Love Is Blind, qui sintresse aux survivants
des guerres civiles qui vivent dans des ruines,
et Mourning in the Presence of the Corpse
(ralise partir dun essai du mme titre qui
fut prsent dans le pavillon libanais lors de
la Biennale de Venise de 2007). Cette dernire
traite de lincapacit mettre un terme aux
conits et notamment - comme par hasard -
du vol, de la destruction et de la dgradation
dautres uvres dart. Dans leur ensemble, les
trois sries comprenaient de ns dessins au
crayon papier, de petits textes srigraphis et
les embouchures de deux trompettes encastres
dans un mur telles une paire dyeux penchs
au-dessus dune phrase inscrite l : Ou ce que
mon pre voit, trs probablement.
Dans les deux expositions, quelquun, arm
dun stylo, crivit directement sur le mur pour
corriger les erreurs quavait apparemment faites
les artistes en arabe. Dans le cas de Raad, lan-
cien critique Joseph Tarrab a corrig une faute
dorthographe dans le nom de lartiste Johnny
Tahan. Dans le cas de Sadek, deux hommes,
aux identits inconnues mais qui ont afrm
avoir t des artistes plus gs, ou des critiques,
ou des amis du pre de lartiste, le dessinateur
de BD Pierre Sadek, ont employ des signes de
correction pour souligner les erreurs gramma-
ticales et les inconsistances du texte.
Raad a transform, par jeu, lobjection de Tar-
rab en une uvre dart part entire, lerreur
dans le nom de Tahan stimulant la conception
dune profusion de nouvelles pices (employant
des documents darchives) sur luvre oublie
dun artiste de seconde zone. Pour sa part,
Sadek sest senti vritablement offens. De fa-
on surprenante, chaque acte de vandalisme a
sembl avoir t commis par des artistes plus
gs reprochant aux plus jeunes leurs faiblesses
linguistiques et leur manque de respect pour la
culture et lhistoire dun monde dans lequel ils
taient ns.
Ces divergences entre gnrations constituent,
en elles-mmes, une part du problme. Le qua-
si-vandalisme que subirent ces deux exposi-
tions Beyrouth rvle de grandes diffrences
dans la faon dont est vcu, compris et consid-
r lart contemporain dans cette rgion, appe-
21
23
these ideas were at odds with an older under-
standing of art as an expression of national
identity. As in Egypt after Nassers putative
revolution of 1952, Palestine in the throes of
revolutionary fervor, or Algeria after the war
for independence from France, art in Lebanon
has long been tangled up with nationalist pro-
jects, which are particularly (if not uniquely)
complicated in the Levant due to the diversity
of communities that live there (from resident
foreigners to itinerant workers to the splinter-
ing factions of religious groups).
The systems we recognize as functional, in-
dependent, and exible contemporary art
scenes across the region have been coming
into being since the 1990s. The development
of Townhouse in Cairo, Platform in Istanbul,
Ashkal Alwan in Beirut, Lappartment 22 in
Rabat, Cinmathque de Tanger, and the re-
cently shuttered Alexandria Contemporary
Arts Forum coincided, to their benet and det-
riment alike, with the emerging discourse of
globalization and neoliberal economics, such
that all three of these thingscontemporary
art, globalization, and neoliberalismare of-
ten confused and entangled, considered one
and the same, and political to the core. As a
result, earlier strains of cosmopolitanisms and
the kind of dazzlingly deliberate intellectual
contamination (to borrow Kwame Anthony Ap-
piahs term) that stretch back decades, even
centuries, have been obliterated by a pater-
nalistic, chauvinistic, and ultimately provincial
view that to be mixed up, complicated, and
streaked by otherness is, inherently, to be a
western imitator and a colonialist fool.
The defensiveness and distrust of contempo-
rary art from within the region run parallel to
political discourse (fey nationalism, the failures
of the left) that speaks to stagnation and imma-
turity. To put forth ideas about nationalism as a
ction, national identity as a ction, a country
such as Morocco itself as a ction, and to do
so in a productive manner, as constructive cri-
tique, is provocative but also necessary. In the
strategies of Walid Raad, who plays with the
slippage between fact and ction; Iman Issa,
whose studied nondisclosures require viewers
to look differently at material they think they
know; and Kader Attia, who takes a radical
approach to archeology and history and mu-
seological display, all of the arguments about
what art is and who its for are present. To
follow those arguments through to the possible
construction of new identities and political or-
ders is as sophisticated as it is generous, and
a ne, lion-hearted response to having your
work, or that of your peers and colleagues,
unceremoniously corrected.
Visual & Sound Arts
Writing on the Wall Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
23
le monde arabe ou Moyen-Orient. Ces carts
apparaissent surtout propos des questions
didentit et dauthenticit, qui ont fait lobjet
de dbats ailleurs, mais sont loin davoir t r-
solues dans des villes comme Casablanca, Alger
et Tunis ou encore Le Caire, Damas, Ramallah,
Amman, Istanbul, Bagdad ou Beyrouth.
Comme nombre de leurs pairs et de leurs col-
lgues, Raad et Sadek ont fait leurs tudes
ltranger. On raconte souvent quils en sont
revenus avec dtranges ides sur ce que lart
tait et pouvait tre, et que ces ides sopposent
une autre forme de comprhension de lart
en tant quexpression de lidentit nationale.
Tout comme en Egypte aprs la rvolution pu-
tative de 1952, en Palestine en pleine ferveur
rvolutionnaire ou en Algrie aprs la guerre
dindpendance contre la France, lart au Liban
est depuis longtemps ml aux projets natio-
nalistes, qui sont, au Moyen-Orient, particuli-
rement (si ce nest uniquement) compliqus en
raison de la diversit des communauts qui y
vivent (des rsidents trangers aux travailleurs
itinrants, en passant par les factions dmulti-
plies des groupes religieux).
Les organisations que nous estimons repr-
senter des scnes dart contemporain fonc-
tionnelles, indpendantes et adaptables tra-
vers la rgion nexistent que depuis les annes
90. Louverture de Townhouse au Caire, de
Platform Istanbul, de Ashkal Alwan Bey-
routh, de lAppartement 22 Rabat, de la Ci-
nmathque de Tanger et du Forum des Arts
contemporains dAlexandrie, qui a rcemment
ferm ses portes, ont concid, tant en leur fa-
veur qu leur dtriment, avec lmergence du
discours de la mondialisation et des conomies
nolibrales, de telle sorte que ces trois choses
lart contemporain, la mondialisation et le
nolibralisme en sont venus tre confon-
dus et mlangs, considrs comme une seule
et mme chose, foncirement politique. Par
consquent, les courants antrieurs en faveur
du cosmopolitisme et le genre de merveilleuse
contamination intellectuelle dlibre (pour
emprunter les termes de Kwame Anthony Ap-
piah) qui sont apparues il y a plusieurs dizaines
dannes, voire plusieurs sicles, ont t touf-
fs par une vision paternaliste, chauvine et en
n de compte assez provinciale qui considre
qutre ml, perturb, contamin par laltrit
quivaut, de fait, ntre quun imitateur de
lOccident et un colonialiste fou.
La mance et le manque de conance que ma-
nifeste la rgion lgard de lart contemporain
vont de pair avec un discours politique (le na-
tionalisme moribond, les checs de la gauche)
dans lequel rsonnent la stagnation et limma-
turit. Mettre en avant des ides qui montrent
le caractre articiel du nationalisme, le carac-
tre articiel de lidentit nationale, le caractre
articiel dun pays tel que le Maroc lui-mme,
et le faire dune faon productive, sous la forme
dune critique constructive, est aussi provoca-
teur que ncessaire. Dans les stratgies mises
en place par Walid Raad, qui joue avec la ligne
de partage entre ction et ralit, celles dIman
Issa, dont les masquages tudis ncessitent
que le public regarde diffremment des ob-
jets quils croient connatre, et celles de Kader
Attia, qui a adopt une approche radicale de
larchologie, de lhistoire et de la musologie,
se retrouvent tous les arguments du dbat sur
ce quest lart et qui il sadresse. Suivre ces
arguments jusquau bout, jusqu lventuelle
construction de nouvelles identits et de nou-
veaux ordres politiques, est aussi complexe
que gnreux, et constitue une manire digne
et subtile de ragir au fait que votre travail, ou
celui de vos pairs et collgues, soit corrig de
faon aussi cavalire.

Ecrire sur les murs KaelenWilson-Goldie
25
Visual & Sound Arts
Where Are We Now?
Identity as Fiction
Hicham Khalidi, Visual & Sound Arts Curator
WHERE ARE WE NOW?, the title of Mar-
rakech Biennale 5, is an interrogation of place
and time. If WHERE is a question of site, the
context in which the Biennale takes place,
NOW is an enquiry into its past, its present,
and its future. The Biennales Visual & Sound
Arts exhibition explores the relationship be-
tween the place of Marrakech and the now of
the contemporary, contemporary art practice,
and contemporary Morocco through artworks
that reect on the personal and collective, the
historical and the ctional.
The Contemporary
Is Now
According to philosopher Peter Osborne,
NOW does not exist. What he designates as
the contemporary is but a disjunctive unity of
times, or more specically, the coming to-
gether of the times of human lives within the
time of the living.
1
The contemporary, by na-
ture, can never be experienced as a whole.
Rather, it consists of a fragmented together-
ness of the past and future, a continuous pro-
jection of individual, personal encounters and
aspirations.
Delay and distortion are inherent to the expe-
rience of time and the communication of expe-
rience. No two people can see the same thing
at the same instant, from the same location
through the same senses. When we look up at
the night sky, we see stars that have long since
ceased to exist but whose light has only just
reached our eyes. Similarly, moments, once no
longer in the act of being lived, are relegated
to the past.
Deferral renders mutual experience impossi-
ble. How, then, can the coming together of
discrete, personal encounters give rise to a col-
lective understanding of time we call NOW?
Moreover, if shared experience is impossible,
then the prospect of a shared place is also un-
tenable. Expansion of this view to a discussion
of nationality reveals that an objective Mo-
rocco too is illusory, and that a universal Mo-
roccan identity is but a fallacy. How, then, can
it be that we feel or experience Morocco as a
coherent entity? Can the concept of a ctional
present be used to challenge received ideas
of historical, national, and religious identity?
In his essay, The Site of Imaginative Conten-
tion, Rob Marks advocates for greater spec-
ulation in science. He argues that imaginative
speculation can achieve what science never
doesan unbounded capacity to consider
unproven and unprovable conditions and
outcomes.
2
The imagination, like art, is an
inexhaustible platform for research and ex-
perimentation. Artistic strategies that accept
the ambiguity and improbability of a unied
national identity make way for a better under-
standing of the possibilities of a future Moroc-
co.
The more than forty artists presented in Visual
& Sound Arts examine notions of the contem-
porary through speculative frameworks that
place the viewer, participant, or inhabitant at
their center. The exhibition, which consists of
over twenty site-specic commissions, is dis-
tributed across ve locations in Marrakech:
Palais Badii, Dar Si Said, Bank Al Maghrib,
LBlassa, and Thtre Royal. Here I highlight
only a few of the many extraordinary artworks
produced in three of the ve exhibition venues:
O sommes-nous maintenant?
Identit comme ction
Hicham Khalidi, Commissaire Arts Visuels & Sonores
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ?, titre
de la Biennale de Marrakech 5, est une interro-
gation sur lespace et le temps. Si O est une
question de lieu, le contexte au sein duquel se
droule la Biennale, MAINTENANT est une
manire dvaluer son pass, son prsent et son
avenir. Lexposition de Arts Visuels & Sonores
explore la relation entre Marrakech en tant que
lieu et le contemporain maintenant, la pratique
artistique contemporaine et le Maroc contem-
porain travers des uvres dart qui retent
sur le personnel et le collectif, lhistorique et
la ction.
Le contemporain,
cest maintenant
Daprs le philosophe Peter Osborne, le
MAINTENANT nexiste pas. Ce quil dsigne
comme le contemporain nest rien dautre qu
une unit disjointe des temps ou, plus pr-
cisment, la rencontre des temps des vies hu-
maines au sein du temps du vivant
1
. Lex-
prience du contemporain, par nature, ne peut
jamais tre totale. Celui-ci consiste plutt en
un rassemblement fragment du pass et de
lavenir, une projection continue des rencontres
et des aspirations individuelles, personnelles.
Le dlai et la distorsion sont inhrents lex-
prience du temps et de la communication de

Hicham Benohoud, Bienvenue Marrakech, 2014.
Photo: Pierre Antoine

25
27
Palais Badii, Dar Si Said, and Bank Al Magh-
rib. Each artist responds to and reimagines
the historical narratives of these unique spac-
es, and of the country as a whole. From this
exhibition emerges a dynamic reconception of
Moroccan identity. One that is speculative, but
nevertheless indelible.
Of Art and War
Palais Badii
Each dynasty that ruled Morocco, including
the French (which I view here as a dynasty),
attempted to wipe out traces
of its predecessor. The history
that remains is one of strug-
gle, defeat, and victory. The
artworks presented at the
Palais Badii, the former pal-
ace of ruler Ahmed Al-Man-
sur, exhume these vestiges of
art and war, construction and
destruction.
Kader Attias artistic practice
is based on the excavation
and repair of remnants of
marginalized histories. His
commission for the Biennale
centers on the French protec-
torate, who used heavy shell-
ing, to violently repress the
Rif mountains independence
movement in 1922. Resonances of this con-
ict are found in objects made with leftovers of
shells and bullets. Attia worked with local Mo-
roccan craftsmen to unearth these remains and
to reappropriate them through the creation of
new, hybrid objects and musical instruments.

At Palais Badii Max Boufathals amalgam,
high-tech tribe of sculptural warriors, animals,
and weapons combines ancient tribalism with
modern consumerism. His formidable cast of
characters obeys a new order of natural se-
lection. For the Biennale, Yassine Balbzioui
introduces a very different kind of monster.
During his new performance, Grosse Tte
(2014) the artist plasters objects and liquids
onto his head, transforming himself into a mu-
tant. Through the performance the artist aims
to bring the audience to a state of despair and
astonishment. As the mutant appears to slowly
suffocate beneath its masking, the public be-
comes witness to an unutterable situation.
For his site-specic performance I Will Not
Stroll With Thami El Glaoui (2014) Jelili Atiku
draws attention to a subtly nuanced Moroccan
history in which the tenuous line between the
present and the past, reality
and ction, is blurred. The ti-
tle is a reference to the Lord
of the Atlas, a feudal Moroc-
can warlord alive during the
second half of the nineteenth
century. In Towards A Possible
Film (2014), a lm project by
Shezad Dawood, two astro-
nauts emerge from the sea in
a martian landscape, where
they are violently confronted
by its inhabitants. Shot on
location in Sidi Ifni, Morocco
the lms dialogue is record-
ed in Tamazight, a wide-spo-
ken, Berber language only
recently recognized as of-
cial in Morocco. Dawood em-
ploys the parlance of science
ction to challenge anthropological concepts
of indigenousness.
Imagining Marrakech
Dar Si Said
In Dar Si Said, a Moroccan museum that hous-
es old Berber carpets, cabinets, and jewelry,
artists explore, in different ways, the ction
of contemporary Morocco. The artworks pre-
sented respond to the museum space while
addressing issues far beyond the connes of
the site and the initial scope of the artists re-
search.
Visual & Sound Arts
Where Are We Now? Hicham Khalidi

Kader Attia, Political Anthropophagy, 2014.
lexprience. Il nexiste pas deux personnes
qui peuvent voir la mme chose au mme ins-
tant, partir du mme endroit et avec la mme
sensibilit. Lorsque nous regardons le ciel, la
nuit, nous voyons des toiles qui ont depuis
longtemps cess dexister mais dont la lumire
atteint seulement alors nos yeux. De la mme
faon, les instants, une fois quils ne sont plus
en train dtre vcus, sont relgus au pass.
Diffre, toute exprience commune est impos-
sible. Comment la runion de rencontres per-
sonnelles et ponctuelles peut-elle alors donner
naissance une comprhension collective du
temps que nous appelons MAINTENANT ? En
outre, si le partage dune exprience est impos-
sible, la perspective de partager un mme lieu
nest galement pas envisageable. Si lon tend
ce point de vue la question de la nationalit,
il en dcoule que le Maroc, en tant que tel, est
galement une illusion et que lexistence dune
mme identit marocaine pour tous nest autre
quune afrmation fallacieuse. Comment, dans
ce cas, est-il possible que nous prouvions et
exprimentions le Maroc comme une entit
cohrente ? Le concept dun prsent ctionnel
peut-il tre utilis pour remettre en cause des
ides reues sur lidentit historique, nationale
et religieuse ?
Dans son essai The Site of Imaginative Conten-
tion (Le Lieu de la dispute imaginative), Rob
Marks se prononce en faveur dune plus grande
spculation en science. Il dfend lide que la
spculation imaginative peut atteindre ce que
la science natteint jamais une capacit illi-
mite prendre en compte les conditions et les
rsultats qui nont pas t et ne peuvent tre
prouvs.
2
Comme lart, limagination est
une source intarissable pour la recherche et
lexprimentation. Les stratgies artistiques qui
acceptent lambigut et limprobabilit dune
identit nationale homogne favorisent une
meilleure comprhension des possibilits pour
un futur Maroc.
Les quarante et quelques artistes prsents
dans Arts Visuels & Sonores examinent di-
verses notions du terme contemporain
travers des cadres spculatifs au centre des-
quels se trouvent le spectateur, le participant ou
lhabitant. Lexposition, qui consiste en plus de
vingt installations in situ ralises pour locca-
sion, se rpartit sur cinq lieux Marrakech : le
O sommes-nous maintenant? Hicham Khalidi

Shezad Dawood, Towards the Possible Film, 2014.
27
29
Visual & Sound Arts
Eric Van Hove, V12 Laraki (work in progress), 2012.

29
Palais Badii, Dar Si Said, la Bank Al Maghrib,
LBlassa et le Thtre Royal. Je ne mattarderai
que sur quelques-unes des nombreuses uvres
extraordinaires mises en place dans trois de ces
cinq lieux : le Palais Badii, Dar Si Said et la
Bank Al Maghrib. Chaque artiste ragit aux
rcits historiques de ces lieux uniques et de
lensemble du pays an de les rinventer. Lex-
position permet lmergence dune reconcep-
tualisation dynamique de lidentit marocaine,
qui se veut spculative bien quimprissable.
A propos de lart et de la guerre
Palais Badii
Chaque dynastie ayant rgn sur le Maroc,
y compris les Franais (que je considre ici
comme une dynastie), sest efforce deffacer
les traces de ses prdcesseurs. Lhistoire quil
en est rest est une histoire de luttes, de dfaites
et de victoires. Les uvres prsentes au Pa-
lais Badii, lancien palais du souverain Ahmed
Al-Mansur, exhument ces vestiges de lart et de
la guerre, de la construction et de la destruc-
tion.
Le travail artistique de Kader Attia se fonde sur
lexcavation et la rparation des vestiges dhis-
toires oublies. Luvre quil a conue pour la
Biennale sinspire de la violente rpression me-
ne par le Protectorat franais contre le mouve-
ment dindpendance des montagnes du Rif en
1922 coups de lourds bombardements. Les
chos de ce conit se retrouvent dans les objets
fabriqus partir des restes dobus et de balles.
Attia a travaill avec des artisans marocains
pour dterrer ces restes et pour les rutiliser
dans la cration de nouveaux objects hybrides
et dinstruments de musique.

Au Palais Badii, la tribu high-tech et htrogne
de Max Boufathal, compose de sculptures de
guerriers, danimaux et darmes, voque un
mlange de tribalisme ancien et de consum-
risme moderne. Son incroyable assemble de
personnages obit un nouveau principe de
slection naturelle. Pour la Biennale, Yassie
Balbzioui nous prsente une sorte de monstre
trs diffrent. Au cours de sa nouvelle perfor-
mance Grosse Tte (2014), lartiste recouvre sa
tte dobjets et de liquides, se transformant lui-
mme en mutant. Par cette performance, lar-
tiste veut conduire les spectateurs un tat de
dsespoir et dtonnement. Au fur et mesure
que le mutant semble suffoquer lentement sous
son masque, le public est pris tmoin dune
situation indescriptible.
Pour sa performance in-situ I Will Not Stroll
With Thami El Glaoui (2014), Jelili Atiku
attire lattention sur une histoire du Maroc
subtilement nuance dans laquelle la ligne de
partage fragile entre prsent et pass, ralit et
ction, sefface. Le titre fait rfrence au Sei-
gneur de lAtlas, un guerrier marocain fodal
qui vcut au cours de la moiti du XIX
e
sicle.
Dans Towards A Possible Film (2014), un lm
ralis par Shezad Dawood, deux astronautes,
sortant de la mer au milieu dun paysage mar-
tien, sont violemment pris partie par les ha-
bitants de la plante. Le lm a t tourn en
extrieur Sidi Ifni au Maroc et ses dialogues
sont en Tamazight, une langue berbre lar-
gement utilise et qui na t que rcemment
reconnue comme langue ofcielle du Maroc.
Dawood utilise les codes de la science-ction
pour remettre en question les concepts anthro-
pologiques dindignat.
Imaginer Marrakech
Dar Si Said
A Dar Si Said, un muse marocain o sont
rassembls de vieux tapis, meubles et bijoux
berbres, les artistes explorent, de diffrentes
manires, la fable du Maroc contemporain.
Les uvres prsentes sintgrent dans lespace
du muse tout en soulevant des questions qui
vont bien au-del du primtre de lendroit et
du cadre de recherche quavaient au dpart les
artistes.
Lartiste nomade Eric van Hove sest engag
31
Nomadic artist Eric van Hove is committed to
creating links between local and global issues.
In Marrakech he presents V12 Laraki (2013),
the result of nine months of work. V12 Lara-
ki is a non-working replica of the Mercedes-
Benz V12 engine. Each of its 465 components
were handcrafted in 53 traditional materials,
including ceramic, bone, tin, goatskin, and
terracotta, by 42 Moroccan artisans. Both the
Mercedes-Benz V12 and the V12 Laraki are
equal, if non-transferable, products of human
excellencethe former of a hundred years of
Western engineering, the latter of a thousand
years of Moroccan heritage.
Adriana Lara is among the many other Bien-
nale artists who collaborated with local crafts-
men. The work she presents is a continuation
of Interesting Theories (since 2010), a project
she began in 2010, that de-emphasizes object
making in favor of a conceptual reimagining
of artistic production and the exhibition space.
A new manifestation of this artwork is woven
into traditional Moroccan rugs destined for
both the art and carpet markets.
Like Lara, Sadane Af privileges intangi-
bility, creating works about interpretation,
exchange, and circulation. For his Biennale
commission, he uses site-specic performance
to reect on ideas of geometry, pedagogy,
and tourist souvenirs. Gabriel Lester also uses
performance in a theatrical display of disem-
bodied musicians and performers. The work
activates rituals petried in the museums many
vitrines, problematizing the role of such institu-
tions in the context of North African oral and
musical traditions.
Across many new metropolises of the Arab
world, top-level Western art organizations
are being blindly copied and pasted from
one context to another with little regard to the
consequences. Walid Raads ongoing project
Scratching on Things I Could Disavow (since
2007) explores the different dimensions (polit-
ical, aesthetic, economic, and ideological) of
art institutions and platforms emerging in the
Visual & Sound Arts
Max Boufathal, Madonna 207 (detail), 2014.

crer des ponts entre des problmatiques lo-
cales et mondiales. A Marrakech, il prsente
V12 Laraki (2013), le rsultat de neuf mois de
travail. V12 Laraki est une rplique non-op-
rationnelle du moteur V12 de Mercedez-Benz.
Chacun de ses 465 composants a t ralis
la main dans lun des 53 matriaux tradition-
nels comme la cramique, los, le fer, la peau
de chvre et la terra cotta par quarante-deux
artisans marocains. Bien que non interchan-
geables, le V12 Mercedez-Benz et le V12 La-
raki sont tous deux des produits de lexcellence
humaine le premier, de centaines dannes
dingnierie occidentale, le second, dun hri-
tage marocain vieux dun millnaire.
Adriana Lara fait partie des nombreux autres
artistes de la Biennale qui ont collabor avec
des artisans locaux. Le travail quelle pr-
sente est la suite dInteresting Theories (depuis
2010), un projet dbut en 2010 qui rduit
limportance de la fabrication dobjets au pro-
t dune nouvelle mise en imagination concep-
tuelle de la production artistique et de lespace
dexposition. Un nouveau produit de cette
uvre a t tiss dans des tapis marocains tra-
ditionnels destins au march de lart comme
au commerce des tapis.
Comme Lara, Sadane Af privilgie lintan-
gibilit, crant des uvres sur linterprtation,
lchange et la circulation. Dans son projet
pour la Biennale, Af utilise la performance in
situ pour initier une rexion autour des ides
de gomtrie, de pdagogie et dobjets-souve-
nirs. Gabriel Lester utilise galement la perfor-
mance, exposant, de faon thtrale, des mu-
siciens et interprtes dsincarns. Luvre fait
revivre ces rituels ptris dans les nombreuses
vitrines du muse, problmatisant le rle dins-
titutions comme celle-ci par rapport aux tradi-
tions orales et musicales de lAfrique du nord.
A travers de nombreuses mtropoles du monde
arabe, les centres dart occidentaux les plus
importants sont aujourdhui aveuglment re-
produits lidentique dans diffrents environ-
nements sans que les consquences nen soient
prises en compte. Lactuel projet de Walid
Raad, Scratching on Things I Could Disavow
Adriana Lara, Interesting Theory 12, 2014.
31
33
Middle East. Raad intervenes in the Biennale
with a selection of new works that create a di-
alogue between the archetypical museum and
the copy presented in Dar Si Said.
Fictional Identity
Bank Al Maghrib
Bank Al Maghrib, the former central bank of
Marrakech, is a site for artists to confront the
concept of identity and the idea of identity as
ction.
In his new commission BIENVENUE Mar-
rakech (2014), Hicham Benohoud responds
to Vision 2020, King Mohammed VIs plan
launched in 2010 to attract 20 million tour-
ists to Marrakech by the year 2020. Here
Benohoud appropriates the Los Angeles Hol-
lywood sign, transforming it into a Mar-
rakech sign, placed upside down, to suggest
the dubious political aspirations underlying the
drive for tourism to Morocco.
Randa Marous multi-disciplinary practice is
equally rooted in socio-politics, particularly a
concern for gender. Her series, Reconstitutions
(2013), which depicts the tension between
Moroccan boys and girls, takes its cue from
cinematic images, meditating on the ctionali-
zation of the real. In a distinct gesture, Lili Rey-
naud-Dewar combines performance, video,
and sculpture to produce projects that involve
her friends and family, students, and her own
body. For the Biennale she presents Teaching
as an Adolescent (2014), a collaborative per-
formance in which she will remain in a hotel
room for the duration of opening week. There
she will lead students in seminars discussing lit-
erature, writing, and experimental pedagogy
that will be streamed live to Bank Al Maghrib.
Rich in narrative and irony, Tala Madanis
works depict darkly comic mise-en-scnes
that are powerful meditations on the tension
between the stereotypical and the iconic. For
the Biennale Madani has completed a new se-
ries of animations based on a research period
spent in various cities around Morocco. She is
shown alongside Hamid el Kanbouhi, whose
commission also follows an extended stay in
Marrakech developing research and allowing
the project to be inuenced by the context and
audience with which he interacts.
Speculating
Morocco
In the words of Marks, It is the revelation of
an untold and ever-present complexity that an
imaginative science [or art] must narrate, not
so that this complexity can be avoided but so
that it might be achieved.
3
Received ideas of Moroccan identity are no
longer sufcient. As individuals we must im-
agine the improbable to construct a more
exible and uid collective identity. Beginning
from the premise that the contemporary is c-
tion, the artists presented in Visual & Sound
Arts utilize imagination as a strategy to spec-
ulate alternative futures. Their works are a tes-
timonial that exploring the unproven does not
limit reality. It only broadens our scope of the
possible.
Visual & Sound Arts
1
Peter Osborne, Contemporary Art is Post-Con-
ceptual Art (lecture, Fondazione Antonio Ratti,
Villa Sucota, Como, July 9, 2010).
2
Rob Marks, The Site of Imaginative Contention,
http://untitled.pnca.edu/articles/show/5976/.
3
Ibid.
(depuis 2007), explore les diffrentes dimen-
sions (idologique, conomique, politique et
esthtique) des institutions et centres dart qui
apparaissent au Moyen-Orient. Raad propose
la Biennale une slection de nouvelles uvres
qui crent un dialogue entre larchtype du mu-
se et la copie prsente Dar Si Said.
Identit ctionnelle
Bank Al Maghrib
La Bank Al Maghrib, ancienne banque centrale
de Marrakech, est un endroit o les artistes
abordent le concept didentit et de lidentit
en tant que ction.
Dans sa nouvelle production pour la Biennale,
BIENVENUE Marrakech (2014), Hicham
Benohoud rpond Vision 2020, le programme
lanc par le Roi Mohammed VI en 2010 an
que le nombre de touristes Marrakech at-
teigne les 20 millions avant lanne 2020. Ici,
Benohoud se rapproprie le panneau gant
Hollywood de Los Angeles pour le trans-
former en un panneau Marrakech, accroch
lenvers an dvoquer les motifs politiques
douteux lorigine de cette qute effrne pour
favoriser le tourisme au Maroc.
Le travail pluridisciplinaire de Randa Marou
senracine galement dans la socio-politique,
en particulier au travers de lintrt que lar-
tiste porte aux questions de genre. Sa srie
Reconstitutions (2013), qui dpeint la tension
entre les garons et les lles au Maroc, sins-
pire dimages cinmatographiques, initiant
une mditation sur la transformation du rel
par la ction. Suivant une approche distincte,
Lili Reynaud-Dewar allie la performance, la
vido et la sculpture pour raliser des pro-
jets qui impliquent ses amis et sa famille, ses
tudiants ainsi que son propre corps. Pour la
Biennale, elle prsente Teaching as an Adoles-
cent (2014), une performance collective dans
laquelle elle restera dans une chambre dhtel
pendant toute la dure de la semaine douver-
ture. L, elle mnera des discussions avec des
tudiants sur la littrature, lcriture et la p-
dagogie exprimentale, discussions qui seront
retransmises dans la Bank Al Maghrib.
Fortement narratives et pleines dironie, les
uvres de Madani donnent voir des mises
en scne lhumour noir qui constituent de
puissantes mditations sur la tension qui existe
entre les strotypes et les icnes. A linvitation
de la Biennale, Madani a ralis des animations
aprs une priode de recherche passe dans di-
verses villes du Maroc. Son travail est montr
en parallle de celui dHamid el Kanbouhi,
dont luvre cre pour la Biennale rsulte
aussi dun long sjour Marrakech au cours
duquel il a pu faire des recherches et laisser son
projet subir linuence du contexte et du public
avec lequel il interagit.
Rinventer
le Maroc
Marks a dit : Cest la rvlation dune com-
plexit tue et incessamment prsente quune
science imaginative [ou lart] doit raconter, non
pas an que cette complexit soit vite, mais
an quelle soit atteinte .
3
Les ides reues sur lidentit marocaine ne suf-
sent plus. En tant que personnes, nous devons
imaginer limprobable pour btir une identit
collective plus mallable et plus uide. Partant
du principe que le contemporain est ction, les
artistes prsents dans Arts Visuels & Sonores
emploient limagination comme stratgie pour
conjecturer dautres avenirs. Leurs travaux
constituent la preuve quexplorer ce qui ne
peut tre prouv ne limite pas la ralit. Ceci
largit seulement ltendue du possible.
1
Peter Osborne, Contemporary Art is Post-Con-
ceptual Art (lecture, Fondazione Antonio Ratti,
Villa Sucota, Como, July 9, 2010.
2
Rob Marks, The Site of Imaginative Conten-
tion, http://untitled.pnca.edu/articles/show/5976/.
3
Ibid.
33
35
renewed efforts to achieve social justice in the
future. He uses his nuanced understanding of
history and the dynamics of power in Moroc-
co to break from aesthetics developed in the
post-colonial period. For his new commission
for the Biennale Akrim researches history and
its relationship with the present, and the com-
plicated relationship between religion and
money. The artwork is a representation of an
old Moroccan coin bearing a Koranic text and
the name of the city where it was minted.
Akrim graduated from the Institut nation-
al des beaux-arts de Tetouan. He completed
a residency at Lappartement 22, Rabat and
has participated in workshops in Namibia,
Jordan, France, and Morocco. Group exhibi-
tions include National Museum of Carthage
(2012), New Art Exchange, Nottingham
(2012) and MACBA, Barcelona (2014). His
rst solo exhibition was at Lappartement 22,
Rabat in 2011.
Mounira Al Solh
Mounira Al Solhs (b. 1978) artworks op-
erate according to Carlo Ginzburgs notion of
microhistory, which aspires to ask large ques-
tions in small places. For the Biennale, Al Solh
has created In Brown, Longtime Thresholds
and Substrates Without Catalogues (2014), a
chain of sound works that takes the form of a
translational game.
Al Solh lives and works in Beirut and
Amsterdam. She was a resident at the Rijk-
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist
Biographies
Sadane Af
Best dened as post-conceptual, the
work of Sadane Af (b. 1970) explores the
notions of interpretation, exchange, and circu-
lation. For the artist, every exhibition consti-
tutes a pretext to experiment with and/or trig-
ger a new work of art whose formal outcome
can be varied. For the Biennale, Af offers to
teach a geometry class every evening on the
Jamaa El Fna square. In reducing this univer-
sal tool of reference to its barest qualitiesthe
circle, the square, the dot, the line, etc.The
lesson turns into the ultimate ready-made.
Af is the winner of the Prix Marcel
Duchamp (2009) and the Gnther-Peill-Preis
2012. His work has been exhibited at Palais
de Tokyo, Paris (2005); dOCUMENTA (12),
Kassel (2007); Witte de With, Rotterdam
(2008); MMK, Frankfurt (2012); and IAC de
Villeurbanne (2013).
Mustapha Akrim
Mustapha Akrim (b. 1981) belongs to a
generation of Moroccan artists redening ex-
pression in the visual arts in their home coun-
try. His installations question the nature of
work, and they often express frustration with
the problem of widespread youth unemploy-
ment. His work We Had a Dream (2011) is in-
spired by Martin Luther Kings immortal words
I have a dream. Akrim puts the phrase in the
past tense, calling for a remembrance of past
liberty and equality struggles and agitating for
de Martin Luther King I have a dream (jai
un rve). Akrim emploie la phrase au pass,
de faon provoquer une rminiscence des li-
berts passes et des luttes pour lgalit, ainsi
qu inciter de nouveaux efforts pour tablir
une justice sociale lavenir. Il met contribu-
tion sa comprhension nuance de lhistoire et
de la dynamique du pouvoir au Maroc pour
sortir de lesthtique mise en place dans la p-
riode post-coloniale. Cette oeuvre reprsente
une ancienne pice de monnaie marocaine sur
laquelle est inscrite un extrait du Coran ainsi
que le nom de la ville o la pice fut frappe.
Akrim est diplm de lInstitut national
des beaux-arts de Ttouan. Il a t en rsi-
dence Lappartement 22 Rabat et a par-
ticip des ateliers en Namibie, en Jordanie,
en France et au Maroc. Il a pris part des
expositions collectives au Muse national de
Carthage (2012), la New Art Exchange de
Nottingham (2012), et au MACBA, Barcelo-
na (2014). Sa premire exposition en solo a eu
lieu Lappartement 22, Rabat, en 2011.
Mounira Al Solh
Les uvres de Mounira Al Solh (ne en
1978) oprent en rponse la notion de mi-
crohistoire tablie par Carlo Ginzburg, en
cherchant poser de grandes questions dans
de petits endroits . Pour la Biennale, Al Solh
a conu In Brown, Longtime Thresholds and
Substrates Without Catalogues (2014), une
chane de son qui prend la forme dun jeu de
Biographies
des artistes
Sadane Af
Qualie de post-conceptuelle , loeuvre
de Sadane Af (n en 1970) se fonde sur lin-
terprtation lchange et la circulation. Selon
lartiste, chaque contexte dexposition est
prtexte lexprimentation ou/et au dclen-
chement de loeuvre dart, qui peut prendre
les formes les plus varies. Pour la Biennale,
Af propose que sur la place Jemaa El Fna,
soit dispens chaque jour, aprs la tombe de
la nuit un cours de gomtrie. Lenseignement
de cet outil de rfrence universel rduit
ses plus simples lments, le cercle, le carr, le
point, la ligne etc. devient ready-made
ultime.
Af a reu le Prix Marcel Duchamp en
2009 et le Gnther-Peill-Preis 2012. Son tra-
vail a t montr au Palais de Tokyo Paris
en 2005, la Documenta 12 Kassel en 2007,
au Witte de With de Rotterdam en 2008, au
MMK de Francfort en 2012, et lIAC de Vil-
leurbanne en 2013.
Mustapha Akrim
Mustapha Akrim (n en 1981) appartient
une gnration dartistes marocains qui re-
dnissent les modes dexpression dans le do-
maine des arts visuels, dans leur pays natal. Ses
installations questionnent la nature du travail
et expriment souvent les frustrations ressenties
vis--vis du problme pos par limportance
du chmage chez les jeunes. Sa pice We Had
a Dream (2011) sinspire de ces mots ternels
35
37
parate clips function as a network analysis, a
sequence generated through a traversal in the
network map that becomes an extracted fanta-
sy of vacation.
Arikan is an Istanbul- and New York-based
artist. His recent exhibitions include the Nam
June Paik Award Exhibition, Kunstmuseum Bo-
chum (2012); Truth is Concrete, Graz (2012);
7
th
Berlin Biennale (2012); 13
th
Istanbul Bi-
ennial (2013); 11
th
Sharjah Biennial (2013);
and 30
th
Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts
(2013).
Mohamed Arejdal
Mohamed Arejdals (b. 1984) multidisci-
plinary practice explores a relationship to the
concept of the Other. Often working through
performance, the artist seeks to establish a
physical and sensory relationship to the spec-
tator in public space, testing cultural and so-
cial boundaries. The sculpture Crank (2012)
depicts a traditional Moroccan mill used to
grind our into the shape of the earth. The
handle used to turn the mill originates in the
United States, whose political and economic
power effectively makes the world go around.
The work acts as a metaphor for the unbal-
anced distribution of goods, food, and educa-
tion around the globe.
Arejdal was born in Guelmim, and lives
and works in Morocco. He studied at the Insti-
tut national des beaux-arts, Ttouan. Solo exhi-
bitions include Festival des Arts Vivants a Cas-
ablanca (2006); XIII
me
Biennale des Jeunes
Crateurs de lEurope et de la Mditerrane,
Bari (2008); and Le Cube independent art
room, Rabat (2012). Group shows include
Centre Culturel Al Andalous, Martil (2007);
LInstitut Espagnol Cervantes, Ttouan; and In-
stitute Franais, Rabat.
Kader Attia
Reecting on his hybrid background, Kad-
er Attias (b. 1970) work explores the reper-
cussions of Western cultural hegemony and
capitalism on the Middle East, Africa, Asia,
and Latin America, and the ways in which
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
sakademie, Amsterdam (20062008). Solo
exhibitions include Kunsthalle Lisbon, Portugal
(2010) and Art in General, New York (2012).
Recent group shows include the 52
nd
Venice
Biennale (2007); Van Abbemuseum, Eindoven
(2008); Manifesta 8, Murcia (2010); Haus
Der Kunst, Munich (2010); The New Museum,
New York (2012); and Home Works, Beirut
(2013).
Can & Asli Altay
Can Altay (b.1975) is an artist and Asli
Altay (b.1983) is a graphic designer and
director of Future Anecdotes Istanbul design
studio. Together they take on projects that
often revolve around issues of public space
and communication. The pair creates exhibi-
tions, structures, and publications that act as
public platforms or markers. An Archipelago
from the Mediterranean (2014) focuses on
the Mediterranean, a troubled body of water
that both unites and divides global societies.
The artwork is an intervention in the city of
Marrakech in the form of distributed posters,
and includes a proposal to make islands out
of Mediterranean water: an archipelago, lo-
cated inland, lled with water. The poster
campaign reects on the artists processes of
making a work public and their distribution of
ideas.
Can & Asli Altays collaborations in-
clude Ahali: An Anthology for Setting a Setting
published by Bedford Press, London (2012);
The Church Street Partners Gazette, an ex-
hibition at The Showroom, London (2010-
2013); and PARK: bir ihtimal, an exhibition in
public space, Istanbul (2010).
Burak Arikan
Burak Arikan (b.1976) works with com-
plex networks through the media of software,
prints, installations, and performances. His
installation Monovacation (2013) at the Mar-
rakech Biennale uses snippets of 20 ofcial
television advertisements for tourism random-
ly selected from 144 countries to construct a
single, generic vacation commercial. The dis-
softwares, limpression de tirages et lorganisa-
tion dinstallations et de performances. Dans
son installation Monovacation (2013), pr-
sent la Biennale de Marrakech, des extraits
de vingt publicits tlvises ofcielles pour le
tourisme ont t slectionns au hasard dans
144 pays, puis utiliss pour composer une
unique publicit gnrique pour les vacances
La disparit de chacune de ces capsules fonc-
tionne la manire dune analyse de rseaux,
une squence gnre par une force transver-
sale dans la carte du rseau qui, son tour,
se transforme en une forme dillusion de va-
cances.
Arikan est un artiste bas Istanbul et
New-York. Son travail a t expos au
Kunstmuseum Bochum (2012), au Truth is
Concrete, Graz (2012), la 7
me
Biennale de
Berlin (2012), la 13
me
Biennale dIstanbul
(2013), la 11
me
Biennale de Sharjah (2013),
et la 30
me
Biennale darts graphiques de Lju-
bljana (2013).
Mohamed Arejdal
Lapproche pluridisciplinaire de Mohamed
Arejdal (n en 1984) explore les relations au
concept de l autre . Travaillant souvent
par le biais de performances, lartiste cherche
tablir une relation physique et sensorielle
avec le spectateur au sein dun espace public
an de tester les limites culturelles et sociales.
La sculpture Crank (2012) reprsente un mou-
lin traditionnel du Maroc utilis pour moudre
le bl, qui prend ici la forme de la terre. La
poigne qui permet de faire tourner le moulin
provient des Etats-Unis, dont le pouvoir poli-
tique et conomique fait effectivement tourner
le monde. La sculpture se veut une mtaphore
de la rpartition inquitable des biens, de la
nourriture et des services ducatifs sur la pla-
nte.
N Guelmim, Arejdal vit et travaille au
Maroc. Il a tudi lInstitut national des
beaux-arts de Ttouan. Ses expositions en solo
se sont tenues au Festival des arts vivants de
Casablanca (2006), la XIII
me
Biennale des
Jeunes Crateurs de lEurope et de la Mditer-
Biographies des artistes
transcription.
Al Solh vit et travaille Beyrouth et Ams-
terdam. Elle a t en rsidence la Rijksaka-
demie Amsterdam (20062008). Ses exposi-
tions individuelles ont eu lieu la Kunsthalle
de Lisbonne au Portugal (2010) et Art in
General New-York (2012). Rcemment, elle
a particip des expositions collectives la
52
me
Biennale de Venise (2007), au Van Ab-
bemuseum Eindhoven (2008), Manifesta 8
Murcie (2010), Haus Der Kunst Munich
(2010), au New Museum de New-York (2012)
et Home Works Beyrouth (2013).
Can & Asli Altay
Can Altay, n en 1975, est artiste. Sa
femme Asli Altay, ne en 1983, est graphic de-
signer, et directrice du studio de cration Fu-
ture Anecdotes Istanbul. Ensemble, ils mnent
des projets qui traitent souvent des problma-
tiques de lespace public et de la communica-
tion. Le couple organise des expositions, cre
des installations et lance des publications qui
tiennent lieu de tribunes publiques. An Ar-
chipelago from the Mediterranean (2014) se
concentre sur la mer Mditerrane, une masse
deau agite qui la fois unit et divise des so-
cits entires. Luvre est une intervention
dans la ville de Marrakech, sous la forme daf-
ches distribues ; elle propose de former des
les avec de leau de la Mditerrane : un archi-
pel situ lintrieur des terres, rempli deau.
La campagne dafchage illustre la volont de
lartiste de raliser une uvre publique, et de
faire essaimer des ides.
La collaboration de Can et Asli Altay a
aussi donn lieu Ahali : An Anthology for
Setting a Setting, publi chez Bedford Press,
Londres (2012), The Church Street Partners
Gazette, une exposition The Showroom
Londres (2010-2013), et PARK : bir ihtimal,
une exposition dans un lieu public Istanbul
(2010).
Burak Arikan
Burak Arikan (n en 1976) met en scne de
complexes rseaux travers llaboration de
37
39
woven hooded cape, bearing traditional Ber-
ber patterns.
Atiku was born in Ejigbo, Nigeria, where
he lives and works. He received an MA in
Visual Arts at the University of Lagos, Nige-
ria. He is chief coordinator of Advocate for
Human Rights Through Arts and president of
the Movement for Creative Drawing. He has
performed at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
(2009); Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos
(2009); and Tate Modern, London (2012).
Yassine Balbzioui
Yassine Balbzioui (b.1972) works across
many disciplines to produce extravagant,
theatrical, and energetic performances. His
artworks frequently explore being and ap-
pearing through the form of masks. For the
Biennale, Balbzioui has created a new per-
formance titled Grosse Tte (2014) based on
previous works shown in Dakar (2012) and
Berlin (2013). The performance lasts between
20 and 25 minutes, during which the artist
plasters objects and liquids onto his head,
giving rise to a mutant form. Through this act
the artist aims to bring the audience to a state
of despair and astonishment. As the mutant
appears to slowly suffocate from its masking
the public becomes witness to an unutterable
situation.
Balbzioui was born in Morocco and now
lives and works in Paris and Bordeaux. He
trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Cas-
ablanca-Maroc (1996). He has exhibited in
solo and group exhibitions internationally, in-
cluding the Biennale Danse lAfrique Danse,
Bamako (2010); the 7
th
Berlin Biennial,
(2010); Galerie Talmart, Paris (2012); and
CAPC Muse dArt Contemporain, Bordeaux
(2013).
Charif Benhelima
Charif Benhelima (b.1967) is a photogra-
pher whose stark images expose intimate
situations in carefully chosen sites. His work
investigates identity, memory, oblivion, docu-
mentation, and truth through images that ex-
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
residual strains of struggle and resistance to
colonization impact the consciousness of im-
migrants as a territory. His practice employs
different materials, symbols, and scales to
question community, diversity, belonging, and
exile among the tangle of identity conicts in
the age of globalization. Following his recent
research journeys to Africa, Asia, and South
America Attia has turned his attention to the
reappropriation of traditional artifacts he re-
pairs using alternative materials. Attias new
commission is centered around the Rif moun-
tains independence movement (1922), which
was repressed by the French protectorate us-
ing heavy shelling. The remaining traces of
this conict are objects made with leftovers
of shells and bullets. Attia worked with local
Moroccan craftsmen to excavate these mar-
ginalized histories through the creation of new
hybrid objects and musical instruments.
Attia lives and works in Berlin, but he spent
his childhood between France and Algeria.
His work has been exhibited widely at major
international institutions, including ICA, Bos-
ton (2007); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
(2011); Tate Modern, London (2011); MoMA,
New York (2012); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel
(2012); and KW Institute for Contemporary
Art, Berlin (2013).
Jelili Atiku
Jelili Atiku (b.1968) employs sculpture,
video, and performance to create works that
promote an egalitarian society and foster a
respect of human rights within his home coun-
try of Nigeria and abroad. His striking and
provocative performances are often staged in
public spaces and incorporate multiple partic-
ipants, processions, and elaborate costumes
highly charged with political content. I Will
Not Stroll With Thami El Glaoui (2014) is a
new work created for the Marrakech Biennale.
Its title refers to the social and political poten-
tiality of public space and the role the artwork
plays in activating this process. Following his
extensive research into traditional Moroccan
textiles, the artist will perform in an akhnif, a
Berlin (2013).
Jelili Atiku
Jelili Atiku (n en 1968) utilise la sculp-
ture, la vido et la performance pour crer
des uvres qui dfendent une socit gali-
taire, et incitent un respect des droits de
lhomme tant dans son pays natal, le Nigria,
qu ltranger. Ses performances tonnantes et
provocatrices sont souvent mises en scne dans
des lieux publics et incluent une multitude de
participants, des cortges et des costumes la-
bors, trs chargs de rsonances politiques. I
Will Not Stroll With Thami El Glaoui (2014)
est une nouvelle uvre cre pour la Biennale
de Marrakech. Son titre fait rfrence aux po-
tentialits sociales et politiques des lieux pu-
blics et au rle que joue lart dans leur dclen-
chement. En raison des recherches importantes
quil a menes sur la fabrication traditionnelle
des textiles marocains, lartiste portera, lors de
sa performance, un akhnif, une cape capuche
en laine, dcore de motifs traditionnels ber-
bres.
Atiku est n Ejigbo, au Nigria, o il vit
et travaille actuellement. Il possde un master
en Arts visuels de lUniversit de Lagos au Ni-
gria. Dfenseur actif des droits de lhomme,
il est coordinateur en chef dAdvocate for
Human Rights Through Arts et est prsident
du Movement for Creative Drawing. Ses per-
formances se sont droules lUniversit Ah-
madu Bello Zaria (2009), au Centre dart
contemporain de Lagos (2009) et la Tate
Modern (2012) Londres.
Yassine Balbzioui
Le travail pluridisciplinaire de Yassine
Balbzioui (n en 1972) lui permet de produire
des performances extravagantes, thtrales et
nergiques. Ses uvres explorent rgulire-
ment ltre et le paratre partir de masques.
Pour la Biennale, Balbzioui a conu une nou-
velle performance intitule Grosse Tte (2014)
qui sinspire de travaux antrieurs montrs
Dakar en 2012 et Berlin en 2013. La per-
formance dure entre 20 25 minutes, temps
rane Bari (2008) et au Cube independent
art room, Rabat (2012). Il a particip des
expositions collectives au Centre Culturel Al
Andalous Martil (2007), lInstitut espagnol
Cervantes Ttouan et lInstitut franais de
Rabat.

Kader Attia
Grce une rexion sur son parcours
hybride, lartiste Kader Attia (n en 1970)
explore les rpercussions de lhgmonie
culturelle et du capitalisme occidentaux sur le
Moyen-Orient, lAfrique, lAsie et lAmrique
latine, et la manire dont des traces rsiduelles
de lutte et de rsistance la colonisation ont
un effet sur la conscience des immigrants en
tant que territoire. Dans sa pratique, il utilise
diffrents matriaux, symboles et chelles an
de pouvoir interroger les notions de commu-
naut, de diversit, dappartenance et dexil
telles quelles surgissent dans lenchevtrement
des conits identitaires lre de la mondiali-
sation. Suite ses rcents voyages de recherche
en Afrique, en Asie et en Amrique du sud,
Attia sest intress aux moyens de se rappro-
prier des artfacts traditionnels quil rpare
en utilisant des matriaux alternatifs. La der-
nire mission dAttia a pour principal sujet le
mouvement dindpendance des montagnes du
Rif (1922), que les autorits du Protectorat
franais ont cras coups de lourds bombar-
dements. Les traces qui demeurent de ce conit
sincarnent dans des objets fabriqus partir
de restants de balles et dobus. Attia a travaill
avec des artisans marocains locaux pour faire
remonter ces histoires oublies au travers de la
cration de nouveaux objets hybrides et dins-
truments de musique.
Attia vit et travaille Berlin, bien quil
ait pass son enfance entre la France et lAl-
grie. Ses uvres ont t rgulirement expo-
ses dans dimportantes institutions interna-
tionales comme lICA de Boston (2007), le
Centre Georges Pompidou Paris (2011), la
Tate Modern Londres (2011), le MoMA
New-York (2012), le dOCUMENTA de Kassel
(2012) et lInstitut dart contemporain KW
39
41
ca and Paris. He was awarded the Galerie
dEssai Prize at Rencontres Photographiques
dArles (2000) and has exhibited internation-
ally at Galerie Le Lieu, Lorient (2004); Centre
Georges Pompidou, Paris (2005); and Grand
Palais, Paris (2008).
Katinka Bock
Employing an array of materials that in-
clude clay, wood, leather, stone, plaster, and
found objects, Katinka Bock (b. 1976) bears
out the spatial qualities of a site through the
physicality of her structures and the precise
rhythms created among them. For the Biennale,
Bock has built an igloo-shaped restone kiln
on the grounds of the Palais El Badii. This im-
pressive red-clay structure recalls Marrakechs
historic nickname the Red City and its long
tradition of ceramics. Clay plates have been
sculpted according to body measurements tak-
en from people in Paris and Marrakech.
Bock lives and works in Paris and Berlin.
She studied at the Ecole nationale suprieure
des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and Kunsthochschule
Berlin-Weissensee. She has exhibited interna-
tionally at Culturgest, Lisbon (2012); Mamco
Geneva, (2013) and Henry Art Gallery, Seat-
tle (2014).
Max Boufathal
Max Boufathal (b.1983) is a sculptor
whose hybrid and high-tech tribe of warriors,
animals, and weapons seemingly obey a new
order of natural selection. These gures are
rendered in high visibility and reective ma-
terials. This formidable cast combines ancient
tribalism with consumerism. Do these beings
come from a past world or a parallel one? Are
they survivors or oppressors? For the Biennale
Boufathal will show a combination of these
previous works, with a new large-scale com-
mission, Madonna 207.
Boufathal graduated from the cole
suprieure des beaux-arts de Nantes with hon-
ors (2002). As part of the Africa Light collec-
tive, he has exhibited internationally at the Off
Biennial of Contemporary Art, Dakar (2010)
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
plore perception, time and space, and a sense
of invisibility. Inspired by his own Moroccan
migrant status, and consequent lack of a fam-
ily photo album to pick up a camera, Benheli-
mas oeuvre establishes a personal narrative
through the stories of others. In Welcome to
Belgium (19901999), a series that took many
years to complete, the artist charts an intense-
ly intimate story of immigration to Belgium. In
the chapter San Damiano (19971998), he
documents men suspended in time at a refuge,
waiting to hear whether their requests for asy-
lum have been granted, or not.
Benhelima lives and works in Antwerp
and Rio de Janeiro. He has shown in solo
exhibitions at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin,
(2005); Station Museum of Contemporary Art,
Houston (2012); and Museu de Arte Contem-
pornea de Nitroi, Rio de Janeiro (2013).
Group shows include Witte de With, Rotter-
dam (2005); FotoFest International Biennial
of Photography, Houston (2012); and MuH-
KA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp
(2013).
Hicham Benohoud
Hicham Benohouds (b. 1968) work ad-
dresses identity formation in Morocco. During
his tenure as a drawing teacher Benohoud
produced La Salle de Classe (19942002),
a photographic series documenting his pupils
in the act of creating grotesque and amusing
situations. The children renounce their pre-
scribed role of pupil, instead presenting
self-constructed identities to the camera. In his
new commission for the Biennale BIENVENUE
Marrakech (2014) the artist responds to
Vision 2020 (2010), King Mohammed VIs
objective to attract 20 million tourists to Mar-
rakech. Lacking an Eiffel Tower or Statue of
Liberty, Benohoud appropriates the Los An-
geles Hollywood sign, transforming it into
a Marrakech sign, with some letters placed
upside down to reect the dubitable political
aspirations behind the drive for tourism to Mo-
rocco.
Benohoud lives and works in Casablan-
41
expositions collectives Witte de With, Rot-
terdam (2005), la Biennale Internationale de
Photographie FotoFest Houston (2012) et au
Muse dArt Contemporain MuHKA dAnvers
(2013).
Hicham Benohoud
Luvre dHicham Benohoud (n en 1968)
examine la formation de lidentit au Ma-
roc. Alors quil exerait comme professeur de
dessin, Benohoud a ralis La Salle de Classe
(19942002), une srie photographique qui
montre ses lves en train de fabriquer des
costumes grotesques et amusants. Les enfants
renoncent ici au rle qui leur est assign en
tant qulves, prsentant la place une iden-
tit telle quils lont construite face la cam-
ra. Luvre quil a ralise pour la Biennale,
BIENVENUE Marrakech (2014), constitue
une rponse Vision 2020 (2010), le plan du
Roi Mohammed VI visant ce que le nombre
de touristes Marrakech atteigne les 20 mil-
lions. Sans Tour Eiffel ou Statue de la liber-
t, Benohoud se rapproprie le panneau gant
Hollywood de Los Angeles pour le transfor-
mer en un panneau Marrakech, accroch
lenvers an dvoquer les motifs politiques
douteux lorigine de cette qute effrne
pour favoriser le tourisme au Maroc.
Benohoud vit et travaille Casablanca
et Paris. Il a reu le Prix de la Galerie dessai
lors des Rencontres photographiques dArles
(2000) et ses uvres ont t exposes inter-
nationalement la Galerie Le Lieu Lorient
(2004), au Centre Georges Pompidou Paris
(2005) et au Grand Palais Paris (2008).
Katinka Bock
Utilisant toutes sortes de matriaux, no-
tamment largile, le bois, le cuir, la pierre, le
pltre et des objets trouvs, Katinka Bock (ne
en 1976) renforce les qualits spatiales dun
site grce la physicalit de ses structures,
et les rythmes prcis qui naissent entre celles-
ci. Pour la Biennale, Bock a construit un four
en forme digloo sur le terrain du Palais El Ba-
dii. Cette impressionnante structure en argile
pendant lequel lartiste colle des objets et verse
des liquides sur sa tte, qui devient petit pe-
tit celle dune sorte de mutant. Par cet acte,
lartiste veut conduire les spectateurs vers un
tat de dsespoir et dtonnement. Au fur et
mesure que le mutant semble suffoquer len-
tement sous son masque, le public devient t-
moin dune situation indescriptible.
Balbzioui est n au Maroc. Il travaille au-
jourdhui Paris et Bordeaux. Il a tudi
lcole des beaux-arts de Casablanca au Ma-
roc (1996). Ses uvres ont t exposes indi-
viduellement et collectivement au niveau inter-
national, notamment la Biennale de Danse
lAfrique Danse Bamako (2010), la 7
me

Biennale de Berlin (2010), la Galerie Talmart
Paris (2012) et au Muse dArt Contempo-
rain, CAPC, de Bordeaux (2013).
Charif Benhelima
Charif Benhelima (n en 1967) est un pho-
tographe dont les clichs austres rvlent des
scnes intimes prises dans des endroits minu-
tieusement slectionns. A travers des images
explorant les notions de perception, despace,
de temps et dune certaine invisibilit, son
uvre soulve de nombreuses questions quant
lidentit, la mmoire, loubli, le document
et la vrit. En tant quimmigr marocain, il
sait intimement ce que signie ne pas avoir
dalbum de photographies de famille. Par
consquent, Benhelima tisse sa propre histoire
travers celle des autres. Dans la srie Wel-
come to Belgium (1990-1999) quil a ralis
au cours de plusieurs annes, lartiste raconte
lhistoire intime de limmigration en Belgique.
Le chapitre San Damiano (1997-1998) docu-
mente la vie dans les refuges o des hommes,
aux destins suspendus, attendent de savoir si
leur demande dasile a t accepte.
Benhelima vit et travaille Anvers et
Rio de Janeiro. Son travail a t prsent dans
des expositions personnelles Kunstlerhaus
Bethanien, Berlin (2005), au Muse Station
dArt Contemporain de Houston (2012) et au
Muse dArt Contemporain de Niteroi, Rio de
Janeiro (2013). Il a galement particip des
43
concepts of indigenousness through the gen-
re of science ction. Two astronauts emerge
from the sea in a Martian landscape, where
they are violently confronted by its inhabit-
ants. Shot on location in Sidi Ifni, Morocco,
the lms dialogue is recorded in Tamazight,
a Berber language only recently recognized
as ofcial in Morocco with its own alphabet.
Dawood worked with actors from Dabateatr,
a Rabat-based theatrical company, and chore-
ographer Salima Moumni.
Dawood, who lives and works in London,
has exhibited internationally, including Tate
Britain, London (2009); the 53
rd
Venice Bien-
nale (2009); and the Busan Biennale (2010).
Recent projects include solo exhibitions at
Modern Art Oxford (2012) and Parasol Unit,
London (2014). In 2012, Dawood was nomi-
nated for the Jarman Award.
Hamid el Kanbouhi
Hamid el Kanbouhi (b. 1976) employs
various media to transform commonplace ele-
ments into immersive and fantastic worlds that
incorporate performance, installation, and
painting. These worlds stem from drawings
whose spatial realization often wrong-foot the
viewer, converting passive bystander into ac-
tive participant. For the Biennale, el Kanbouhi
will create a new commission as the result of
an extended stay in Marrakech, developing
research and allowing the project to be inu-
enced by the context and audience with which
he interacts.
El Kanbouhi is a Dutch-Moroccan artist
who lives and works in Amsterdam. He at-
tended the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2000
2004). He has exhibited in solo shows at Mu-
seum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo (2005) and
Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague (2009);
and in group exhibitions at Rijksakademie,
Amsterdam (2010); Koninklijk Paleis, Amster-
dam (2011); and Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zu-
rich (2012).

Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
and the Biennial of Dance, Bamako (2010).
Solo exhibitions of his work include Chateau
de Fernelmont (2011); Galerie Saint-Jacques,
Saint-Quentin (2011); and High Culture Gal-
lery, Maastricht (2011).
Keren Cytter
Keren Cytter (b. 1977) uses lm, video
installation, and drawing to represent social
realities through experimental modes of story-
telling. Characterized by a non-linear, cyclical
logic, Cytters lms consist of multiple layers of
images, monologue, dialogue, and narration,
systematically composed to undermine linguis-
tic conventions and traditional interpretation
schemata. The artist creates intensied scenes
drawn from everyday life in which their over-
whelmingly articial nature is echoed by the
means of their production. Cytters video for
the Biennale will include daily documentation
of the artists life manipulated to a quasi-detec-
tive story, shot through a variety of video me-
dia including cameras, mobile phones, Skype
recordings, and computer-screen recordings.
Cytter was born in Tel Aviv. She lives and
works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions
include Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2010);
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2011); and
Tate Modern, London (2012). Recent group
exhibitions include Whitney Museum of Amer-
ican Art, New York (2008); Manifesta 7, Tren-
tino (2008); Yokohama Triennial (2008); the
53
rd
Venice Biennale (2009); New Museum,
New York (2009); CCA Watts, San Francisco
(2012); and Moscow Museum of Modern Art
(2011).
Shezad Dawood
Shezad Dawood (b. 1974) works across
lm, painting, and sculpture to juxtapose dis-
crete systems of image, language, site, and
historical narrative. His practice frequently in-
volves collaboration, working with groups and
individuals across territories to physically and
conceptually map far-reaching lines of inquiry.
In Towards the Possible Film (2014), Dawoods
latest lm project, he explores anthropological
cyclique, les lms de Cytter comprennent des
couches multiples dimages, de monologues,
de dialogues et de rcits, systmatiquement
composes pour affaiblir les conventions du
langage et les schmas dinterprtation tra-
ditionnels. Lartiste cre des scnes dramati-
ses, tires de la vie quotidienne, dont la na-
ture excessivement articielle est rete par
leurs moyens de production. La vido prpa-
re par Cytter pour la Biennale comprend un
compte-rendu quotidien de la vie de lartiste,
transform en une histoire quasi-policire qui
a t lme par lintermdiaire de divers appa-
reils vido comme des camras, des tlphones
portables, des enregistrements Skype et des vi-
docaptures dcran.
Cytter est ne Tel Aviv. Elle vit et travaille
New-York. Ses dernires expositions indi-
viduelles ont eu lieu au Museet Moderna
Stockholm, au Muse Stedelijk Amsterdam
(2011) et la Tate Modern Londres (2012).
Elle a fait rcemment partie dexpositions de
groupes au Whitney Museum of American Art
New-York (2008), au Manifesta 7 Trentino
(2008), la Triennale de Yokohama (2008),
la 53
me
Biennale de Venise (2009), au New
Museum New-York (2009), CCA Watts
San Francisco (2012) et au Muse dart mo-
derne de Moscou (2011).
Shezad Dawood
Shezad Dawood (n en 1974) a recours
aussi bien la peinture et la sculpture qu la
vido pour juxtaposer des systmes dimages,
des systmes langagiers et spatiaux, ainsi que
des rcits historiques. Sa pratique lamne sou-
vent collaborer avec dautres, quil sagisse
de groupes ou dindividus, travers certains
territoires an de cartographier physiquement
et conceptuellement de longues lignes de ques-
tionnement. Dans Towards the Possible Film
(2014), le dernier lm de Dawood, lartiste
explore des concepts anthropologiques en
passant par la science-ction. Au moment o
ils sortent de la mer au milieu dun paysage
martien, deux astronautes sont violemment
rouge rappelle le surnom historique de Mar-
rakech, la Ville rouge, et sa longue tradition de
fabrication de cramiques. Des reprsentations
du corps humain ont t sculptes dans largile
daprs les mensurations de personnes vivant
Paris et Marrakech.
Bock vit et travaille Paris et Berlin. Elle
a tudi lcole suprieure des beaux-arts
de Lyon et la Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weis-
sensee. Son travail a t expos internationa-
lement, au Culturgest de Lisbonne (2012), au
Mamco Genve (2013), et la Henry Art
Gallery Seattle (2014).
Max Boufathal
Max Boufathal (n en 1983) est un sculp-
teur dont la tribu hybride et hich-tech de
guerriers, danimaux et de leurs armes semble
obir une nouvelle forme de slection natu-
relle. Ces gurines, trs voyantes, sont faites
de matriaux rchissants. Cet incroyable
moulage constitue une alliance entre le triba-
lisme ancestral et le consumrisme. Ces per-
sonnages viennent-ils dun monde pass ou
dun monde parallle ? Sont-ils des survivants
ou des oppresseurs ? Pour la Biennale, Boufa-
thal exposera la fois des uvres anciennes
et une grande uvre de commande nouvelle,
Madonna 207.
Boufathal est diplm de lcole suprieure
des beaux-arts de Nantes avec flicitations
(2002). En tant que membre du collectif Afri-
ca Light, il a expos au niveau international
la Off Biennale dart contemporain de Dakar
(2010) et la Biennale de danse de Bamako
(2010). Chateau de Fernelmont (2011), la Ga-
lerie Saint-Jacques Saint-Quentin (2011) et
la High Culture Gallery Maastricht (2011)
ont notamment prsent des expositions en
solo de son travail.
Keren Cytter
Keren Cytter (ne en 1977) utilise des lms,
des installations vido et le dessin pour repr-
senter certaines ralits sociales travers des
modes de narration exprimentaux. Caractri-
ss par une progression logique non linaire et
43
45
prison, where the ornamentation is no longer
based solely on musical rhythms.
Erek lives and works in Istanbul. He has
participated in the Istanbul Biennial (2003 &
2011) and dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel (2012);
he was the subject of a solo exhibition at Kun-
sthalle Basel (2012). Erek was a recipient of
the Nam June Paik Award (2012). Until recent-
ly, Erek instructed at ITU Turkish Music State
Conservatory and headed a studio at ITU Ar-
chitecture Faculty.
Hamza Halloubi
Hamza Halloubi (b. 1982) works across
a wide range of media, including video, pho-
tography, sculpture, and installation, to inves-
tigate the grammar and semiotics of language
and lm. His personal knowledge of immigra-
tion is often a departure point to distill experi-
ence and theory through gesture, movement,
or narrative. In his powerful lm To Leave
(20112012) the artist places the viewer in
the position of one who is leaving a relative.
Beginning with a close-up portrait, the cam-
era pulls away continuously to reveal a dark-
ening street in Tangier, creating a poignant
representation of migrancy that merges ction
and documentary.
Halloubi was born in Tangier, and now
lives and works between Tangier and Brussels.
He has had solo exhibitions at BOZAR, Palais
des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2013) and Kiosk,
Ghent (2014). Group shows include the 4
th
Cairo Video Festival (2010); the 6
th
Momen-
tum Biennial, Moss (2011); Centre Pompidou,
Paris (2011); and Kunstenfestival, Watou
(2012).
Iman Issa
Iman Issa (b. 1979) produces serial works
that create meaning through the interrelation-
ship of objects, lm, and text. Her audio work
The Revolutionary (2010), on display at the Bi-
ennale, uses a text written by the artist, gener-
ated into speech using text-to-speech software,
to introduce the listener to the ctional biogra-
phy of a revolutionary in an attempt to access
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti (b. 1978)
works across drawing, painting, installation,
and sculpture to create vivid, immersive, and
personal visions of our alienated world. Her
frames of reference draw from a multiplicity
of sources: the circus, history, politics, fami-
ly, and fairy tales. Recently her practice has
developed toward an analysis of the feminine
within these frameworks. For the Biennale she
will create a new commission conating the
myth of Aicha Qandisha, a female devil in
Moroccan folklore, and a vision for contem-
porary women in Morocco. This work brings
the mythological past to bear on the future of
women who occupy a difcult and ambiguous
place in the culture and politics of the nation.
El Keriasti has taken part in residencies
at De Ateliers, Amsterdam (20012003), Ri-
jksakademie, Amsterdam (20062007); and
Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2010). She
has had solo shows at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien,
Berlin, (2010); Galerie sans titre, Brussels
(2009); and Museum Jan Cunen, Oss (2008).
Her work has been included in group exhibi-
tions at the Young Artist Biennale, Bucharest
(2008); White Box, New York (2009); Grim-
museum, Berlin (2010); and WIELS, Brussels
(2010).
Cevdet Erek
Courtyard Ornamentation with Sounding
Dots and a Prison (COSDP) (2014) is a con-
tinuation of the series Courtyard Ornamen-
tation with 4 Sounding Dots and a Shade,
which made its most recent manifestation at
the Sharjah Biennial in 2013. Loudspeakers
are placed on the walls surrounding a court-
yard. Only when the visitor nds the sweet
spot under a central shade do all sounds
combine, forming a recognizable rhythm. The
percussive sounds were performed by hand,
reecting the artists desire to connect au-
dio ornamentation with handmade visual
ornamentation, while spoken words act as
calligraphic text in geometrical relation to the
percussive dots. The work is continued in the
Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti (ne en 1978)
travaille conjointement partir de dessins,
de peintures, dinstallations et de sculptures
an dexprimer ses visions contrastes et tou-
chantes de notre monde alin. Ses cadres de
rfrence sont tablis partir dune multitude
de sources dinspiration : le cirque, lhistoire,
la politique, la famille et les contes de fes.
Plus rcemment, son travail sest orient vers
une analyse du fminin lintrieur mme de
ces cadres. Lartiste crera, spcialement pour
la Biennale, une nouvelle uvre colligeant le
mythe dAicha Qandisha, une crature diabo-
lique fminine du folklore marocain, et une
certaine vision du futur des femmes contem-
poraines au Maroc. Ce travail permet de lier le
pass mythologique lavenir de femmes qui
occupent une position difcile et ambige dans
la culture et la politique du pays.
El Keriasti a t en rsidence De Ateliers
Amsterdam (20012003), la Rijksakade-
mie Amsterdam (20062007) et au Kunster-
lhaus Bethanien de Berlin (2010). Elle a expo-
s en solo Kunstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin,
(2010), la Galerie sans titre de Bruxelles
(2009) et au Muse Jan Cunen dOss (2008).
Elle a galement particip des expositions
collectives la Biennale des jeunes artistes de
Bucharest (2008), White Box New-York
(2009), au Grimmuseum de Berlin (2010) et
WIELS Bruxelles (2010).
Cevdet Erek
Courtyard Ornamentation with Sounding
Dots and a Prison (COSDP) (2014) sins-
crit dans la continuit de la srie Courtyard
Ornamentation with 4 Sounding Dots and a
Shade dont la plus rcente manifestation a eu
lieu la Biennale de Sharjah en 2013. Des en-
ceintes sont places sur les murs entourant une
cour. Ce nest que lorsque le visiteur trouve le
point sensible, sous une ombre au centre de
lendroit, que tous les sons se combinent alors
pour former un rythme identiable. Les sons
ont t produits par de vraies percussions, ce
qui dnote le dsir de lartiste de lier l or-
pris partie par les habitants de la plante. Le
lm a t tourn en extrieur dans la province
de Sidi Ifni au Maroc et ses dialogues sont en
Tamazight, une langue berbre qui possde
son propre alphabet et na t que rcemment
reconnue comme langue ofcielle au Maroc.
Dawood a travaill avec des acteurs du Daba-
teatr, une troupe de thtre base Rabat, et la
chorgraphe Salima Moumni.
Les uvres de Dawood, qui vit et travaille
Londres, ont t exposes internationale-
ment, notamment la Tate Britain Londres
(2009), la 53
me
Biennale de Venise (2009) et
la Biennale de Busan (2010). Ses rcents pro-
jets incluent deux expositions solo Modern
Art Oxford (2012) et Parasol Unit Londres
(2014). En 2012, Dawood a t slectionn
pour le Prix Jarman.
Hamid el Kanbouhi
Hamid el Kanbouhi (n en 1976) utilise
divers media pour transformer des lments
ordinaires en mondes fantastiques et sensoriel-
lement stimulants, qui allient performances,
installations et peintures. Ces mondes mer-
gent de dessins dont la disposition spatiale
dstabilise souvent lobservateur, faisant du
spectateur passif un participant actif. A la de-
mande de la Biennale, el Kanbouhi crera une
nouvelle uvre rsultant dun long sjour
Marrakech, au cours duquel il a pu faire des
recherches et laisser son projet subir linuence
du contexte et du public avec lequel il intera-
git.
El Kanbouhi est un artiste hollando-ma-
rocain qui vit et travaille Amsterdam. Il a
tudi la Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2000
2004). Ses expositions en solo ont t accueil-
lies par le Muse van Bommel van Dam Ven-
lo (2005) et la Galerie Nouvelles Images la
Haye (2009). Il a particip des expositions
collectives la Rijksakademie Amsterdam
(2010), au Palais royal dAmsterdam (2011) et
la Galerie Barbara Seiler Zurich (2012).

45
47
tional Art Fair in Casablanca (2010) and her
work is held in the collections of HM the King
Mohammed VI and French President Franois
Hollande.
Hassaan Khan & Ibtesam Gazder
Hassaan Khan (b.1976) and Ibtesam
Gazder (b.1983) are multidisciplinary artists
seeking to pioneer contemporary artistic prac-
tice in their native Saudi Arabia and further
aeld in the Arab world. Combining Gazders
artistic practice with Khans background in
engineering, the pair realize their artworks in
close collaboration.
Both Khan and Gazder were born in Jed-
dah and live and work in Saudi Arabia. Khan
received a BA in industrial engineering from
King Abdulaziz University (2004). He has
exhibited with Arabian Wings and at Dama
Art, Jeddah (2013). Gazder received a BA in
Islamic arts, also from King Abdulaziz Univer-
sity (2006). She has exhibited at Atelier Jed-
dah (2013); Dama Art, Jeddah (2013); and
the Jeddah Literary Cultural Club (2012).
Adriana Lara
Adriana Laras (b. 1978) practice de-em-
phasizes object making in favor of a concep-
tual reimagining of artistic production and the
exhibition space. Lara playfully turns her atten-
tion to artistic models in order to set up prob-
lems or situations for the viewer to reect upon.
Her work at the Biennale is a continuation of
her series, Interesting Theories (since 2010).
In this series the artist creates a visual inter-
pretations theory. Each permutation, rendered
in video, sculpture, text, or painting, distorts
and combines the previous, creating a gener-
ative system that conceptually and materially
echoes the evolution of theory. In Morocco, a
new manifestation of Interesting Theories will
be woven into traditional Moroccan carpets.
Created in collaboration with local craftsmen,
these are destined to become a part of both
the art and carpet markets.
Lara is a Mexico City-based artist. She is
co-founder of the art production ofce Perros
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
what this term references and corresponds to.
Issa was born in Cairo. She lives and
works in Cairo and New York. Recent group
and solo exhibitions include KW Institute of
Contemporary Art, Berlin (2011); Material,
Rodeo, Istanbul (2011); SculptureCenter, New
York (2011); Contemporary Image Collective,
Cairo (2011); and New Museum, New York
(2012). Her video work has been screened at
Transmediale, Berlin; Tate Modern, London;
Spacex, Exeter; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool;
and Bidoun Artists Cinema, Art Dubai, Dubai.
Ghita, Hiba, and Zaynab Khamlichi
Ghita Khamlichi (b. 1995), Hiba Kham-
lichi (b. 2000), and Zaynab Khamlichi (b.
1988) are young Moroccan women who have
been making art since childhood. For the Mar-
rakech Biennale Ghita stages a performance
that exemplies her musical inuences, which
range from Ray Charles and Miles Davis to
Su music. Her works embody the linkages
between the visible and invisible, and the re-
lationships between various forms of artistic
expression and perception. Hiba and Zaynab
present works from their extensive oeuvre.
Hibas meticulous ceiling paintings are aston-
ishing in their uency and maturity, showing
an instinctive grasp of abstract expressionism.
Zaynabs portrait of King Mohammed VI of
Morocco is an iconic work that draws from
the traditions of pop art. Together, these three
women reveal a bright future for art in the re-
gion.
The sisters were born in Rabat, where they
live and work. Ghita and Hiba were awarded
the Mdaille dor du mrite by CNM-UNES-
CO (2011) and received a special mention
from the jury of the International Sharjah
Biennial (2012). Hiba received rst prize
in sculpture at the International Biennial of
Sharjah (2012); fth prize at the UNESCO
International Visual Arts Competition (2013);
a bronze medal at the International Biennial
of Bangladesh (2013); and second prize at
the Space Foundation International Student Art
Contest. Zaynab has exhibited at the Interna-
Iman Issa
Iman Issa (ne en 1979) ralise un travail
sous forme de sries qui gnrent du sens grce
aux interactions quelles crent entre objets,
lm et texte. Luvre sonore quelle prsente
la Biennale, The Revolutionary (2010), se base
sur un texte crit par lartiste. Cet crit a t
converti en discours par un logiciel, an de fa-
miliariser lauditeur avec la biographie ctive
dun rvolutionnaire. Lobjectif tant de cerner
ce que le terme de rvolutionnaire dsigne v-
ritablement.
Issa est ne au Caire. Elle vit et travaille
au Caire et New York. Ses expositions in-
dividuelles ou collectives ont t accueillies
par lInstitut KW pour lart contemporain
de Berlin (2011), Material, Rodeo Istan-
bul (2011), le SculptureCenter de New-York
(2011), le Collectif Contemporary Image
au Caire (2011) et le New Museum New-
York (2012). Ses vidos ont t montres
la Transmediale de Berlin, la Tate Modern
de Londres, au Spacex dExeter, lOpen Eye
Gallery de Liverpool et au cinma Bidoun Ar-
tists, Art Dubai, Duba.
Ghita, Hiba, et Zaynab Khamlichi
Ghita Khamlichi (ne en 1995), Hiba
Khamlichi (ne en 2000), et Zaynab Khamlichi
(ne en 1988) sont des jeunes femmes maro-
caines qui pratiquent lart depuis leur enfance.
Pour la Biennale de Marrakech, Ghita met
en scne une performance qui illustre ses in-
uences musicales, qui vont de Ray Charles
Miles Davis en passant par la musique soue.
Ses uvres incarnent les liens entre le visible
et linvisible, ainsi que les relations entre diff-
rentes formes dexpression et de perception ar-
tistiques. Hiba et Zaynab prsentent plusieurs
pices issues de leur importante production.
Les peintures mticuleuses quHiba ralise
sur des plafonds tonnent par leur aisance et
leur maturit, prouvant la matrise instinctive
de lexpressionnisme abstrait par lartiste. Les
portraits du Roi Mohammed VI du Maroc,
raliss par Zaynab, constituent un travail ico-
nique qui sinspire des traditions du Pop Art.
nementation auditive une ornementation
visuelle produite la main, alors que les mots
prononcs deviennent comme un texte cal-
ligraphi qui entretient une relation gom-
trique avec la ponctuation des percussions. Le
travail se poursuit dans la prison, o lorne-
mentation nest plus seulement base sur des
rythmes musicaux.
Erek vit et travaille Istanbul. Il a partici-
p la Biennale dIstanbul (2003 et 2011),
la dOCUMENTA (13) de Kassel (2012), et il
a prsent une exposition en solo la Kuns-
thalle Basel (2012). Erek a reu le Prix Nam
June Paik (2012). Il a enseign au Conserva-
toire national de musique turc dITU et a diri-
g un studio la Facult darchitecture dITU
jusqu rcemment.
Hamza Halloubi
Hamza Halloubi (n en 1982) travaille
partir dune large gamme de supports compre-
nant la vido, la photographie et la sculpture
pour explorer la grammaire et la smantique
du langage et du cinma. Sa connaissance per-
sonnelle de limmigration est souvent un point
de dpart pour partager exprience et thorie
travers le geste, le mouvement et le rcit. Dans
son important lm To Leave (20112012),
lartiste place le spectateur dans la position
dune personne quittant un parent. Partant
dun portrait rapproch, la camra sloigne
de faon continue jusqu rvler une rue as-
sombrie de Tanger, crant une reprsentation
poignante du processus de migration qui mle
ction et documentaire.
Halloubi est n Tanger. Aujourdhui, il
vit et travaille Tanger et Bruxelles. Ses ex-
positions en solo se sont tenues BOZAR, le
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (2013) et au
Kiosk Ghent (2014). Il a particip des ex-
positions collectives lors du 4
me
Festival de la
vido du Caire (2010), de la 6
me
Biennale Mo-
mentum de Moss (2011), au Centre Georges
Pompidou Paris (2011) et au Kunstenfestival
Watou (2012).
47
49
uncomfortable scenes in which bald, mid-
dle-aged men engage in absurd scenarios that
fuse playfulness with violence and perversity.
Madanis paintings are powerful meditations
on the tension between the stereotypical and
the iconic. For the Biennale Madani, has com-
pleted a new commission of animations based
on a research period spent in various cities
around Morocco.
Madani was born in Iran and now lives
and works in Los Angeles. She holds an MFA
from Yale University School of Art. Recent
solo exhibitions include Stedelijk Museum
Bureau, Amsterdam (2011) and Moderna
Museet, Malmo and Stockholm (2013). She
has participated in group exhibitions at New
Museum, New York (2009); MoMA PS1, New
York (2010); Museum De Hallen, Amsterdam
(2011); the 56
th
Venice Biennale (2011); and
Artpace, San Antonio (2013). Madani was
awarded the Catherine Doctorow Prize for
Contemporary Painting (2013) and the De
Volkskrant Art Award (2012).
Saud Mahjoub
Saud Mahjoub (b.1957) is a photogra-
pher, whose work has developed into both an
artistic and commercial practice. His expres-
sionistic and abstract photographs are inu-
enced by surrealism and conceptual photogra-
phy. He has been instrumental in establishing
contemporary photography in Saudi Arabia.
Mahjoub was born in Makkah. He re-
ceived a BA in landscape architecture from
King Abdulaziz University. He is the former
chairman of Saudi Photographers House,
past coordinator for the International Feder-
ation of Photographic Art (FIAP), and former
head of the photography branch of the Culture
and Arts Society in Jeddah. He is currently rep-
resented by Arabian Wings.
Randa Marou
Randa Marous (b.1987) multi-discipli-
nary practice is rooted in political issues, with
a primary concern in gender studies. Her work
takes the form of lm, video, photography, in-
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
Negros. Solo exhibitions of her work include
Kunsthalle Basel (2012) and Algus Green-
spon, New York (20122013). The artist has
been in numerous group exhibitions including
Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003) and dOCUMEN-
TA (13), Kassel (2012). Lara is editor-in-chief
of Pazmaker, an art quarterly published in
Mexico City.
Gabriel Lester
Gabriel Lesters (b. 1972) lms, performanc-
es, and installations originate from a desire
to tell stories and construct environments. His
work proposes ways to relate to the world,
how it is presented, and what mechanisms
and components constitute our perception and
understanding of it. By dissecting, editing,
cutting up, repositioning, and forcing perspec-
tive, Lesters artworks suggest both rational
consciousness, as well as associative magic
thought. In Marrakech, the artist presents a
theatrical display of disembodied musicians
and performers in Dar Si Said, an old hand-
icrafts museum. The work activates those rit-
uals petried in the museums many vitrines,
problematizing the role of such institutions in
the context of North African oral and musical
traditions.
Lester lives and works in Amsterdam. He
was a resident artist at the Rijksakademie, Am-
sterdam (19992000). Lester has exhibited
internationally at the 29th Sao Paulo Biennial
(2010); SALT, Istanbul (2011); dOCUMEN-
TA (13), Kassel (2012); Performa, New York
(2013); the 55
th
Venice Biennale (2013); and
the 11
th
Sharjah Biennial (2013).
Tala Madani
Tala Madanis (b.1981) painting is char-
acterized by loose, expressive brushwork
rendered in a bold, distinctive palette. Rich in
narrative and heavy in irony, Madanis works
depict darkly comic mise-en-scnes. While
her more abstract large-scale paintings usu-
ally contain a group or collective, Madanis
more descriptive and intimately scaled paint-
ings and painterly video animations depict
49
lespace dexposition. Lara sintresse, de fa-
on ludique, des modles artistiques an de
rvler des problmes et des situations aux-
quels le spectateur pourra rchir. Sa contri-
bution la Biennale sinscrit dans la continuit
de sa srie Interesting Theories (depuis 2010).
Dans cette srie, lartiste cre une thorie des
interprtations visuelles. Chaque permutation,
montre au travers de la vido, de la sculpture,
du texte ou de la peinture, travestit et rutilise
celle qui la prcde, ce qui cre un systme
gnratif qui fait cho, conceptuellement et
matriellement, la thorie de lvolution. Au
Maroc, une nouvelle manifestation dInteres-
ting Theories sera tisse dans des tapis maro-
cains traditionnels. Raliss en collaboration
avec des artisans rgionaux, ceux-ci sont des-
tins circuler sur le march de lart et sur le
march des tapis.
Lara vit Mexico. Elle est cofondatrice du
bureau de production artistique Perros Negros.
Ses uvres ont t exposes la Kunsthalle de
Ble (2012) et la galerie Algus Greenspon
New-York (20122013). Elle a particip de
nombreuses expositions collectives, notam-
ment au Palais de Tokyo Paris (2003) et
dOCUMENTA (13) Kassel (2012). Lara est
rdactrice en chef de Pazmaker, un magazine
dart trimestriel publi Mexico.
Gabriel Lester
Les lms, performances et installations
de Gabriel Lester (n en 1972) naissent du
dsir de raconter des histoires et de btir des
environnements. Son travail offre des moyens
dentrer en relation avec le monde, de sai-
sir comment il est prsent, et quels sont les
mcanismes et lments qui composent notre
perception et notre comprhension de celui-ci.
En dissquant, ditant, coupant, rorganisant
et en imposant une perspective, les uvres de
Lester voquent la fois la conscience ration-
nelle et la pense magique. A Marrakech, lar-
tiste prsente une reprsentation thtrale de
musiciens et dinterprtes dsincarns Dar Si
Said, un vieux muse de lartisanat. Luvre
fait revivre ces rituels ptris dans les nom-
Ensemble, ces trois femmes promettent, lart
dans la rgion, un brillant avenir.
Les surs sont nes Rabat, o elles
vivent et travaillent. Ghita et Hiba ont reu
la Mdaille dor du mrite, dcerne par
CNM-UNESCO (2011) et une mention sp-
ciale du jury de la Biennale internationale de
Sharjah (2012). Hiba a reu le premier prix de
sculpture la Biennale Internationale de Shar-
jah (2012), le cinquime prix la Comptition
Internationale dArts Visuels de lUNESCO
(2013), une mdaille de bronze la Biennale
Internationale de Sharjah (2013) ainsi que le
second prix au Concours International pour
Etudiants en Art de la Space Foundation. Le
travail de Zaynab a t expos la Foire inter-
nationale de lart de Casablanca (2010) et fait
partie des collections du Roi Mohammed VI et
du prsident franais Franois Hollande.
Hassaan Khan & Ibtesam Gazder
Hassaan Khan (n en 1976) et Ibtesam Ga-
zder (ne en 1983) sont des artistes pluridisci-
plinaires qui cherchent innover en matire de
pratique artistique contemporaine, dans leur
pays natal, lArabie Saoudite, et dans le reste
du monde arabe. Associant le travail artistique
de Gazder la formation dingnieur de Khan,
le duo ralise ses uvres en troite collabora-
tion.
Ns tous deux Djedda, Khan et Gaz-
der vivent et travaillent en Arabie Saoudite.
Khan possde une licence en gnie industriel
de lUniversit du Roi Abdulaziz (2004). Il a
particip des expositions aux centres dart
Arabian Wings et Dama Art Djedda (2013).
Gazder possde une licence en Arts islamiques
de lUniversit du Roi Abdulaziz (2006). Son
travail a t montr lAtelier Djedda (2013),
Dama Art Djedda (2013) et au Jeddah Li-
terary Cultural Club (2012).

Adriana Lara
Le travail dAdriana Lara (ne en 1978)
rduit limportance de la fabrication dobjets
au prot dune nouvelle mise en imagination
conceptuelle de la production artistique et de
51
scholar and writer, and MJA Nashir (b.1973),
a Javanese artist, have been working togeth-
er since 2010. Their lm Rangsa ni Tonun
(2013) explores Batak weaving (North Suma-
tra, Indonesia) as seen through the eyes of a
nineteenth-century shaman. The text on which
the lm is based, part myth, part legend, be-
longed to the oral repertory of a Batak guru.
It describes each step in the production of a
Batak textile. The description closes with a
reference to Si Boru Hasagian, the rst Batak
weaver from whom all Batak weavers are be-
lieved to be descended. The theme song of the
lm is a forgotten, traditional Batak weaving
song. The lm was repatriated to North Suma-
tra in September 2013.
Niessen holds a PhD in anthropology from
the University of Leiden, Netherlands, and has
spent years conducting eldwork in Indonesia,
Mexico, and Thailand. Her areas of research
include Indonesian textiles, and non-Western
craft and fashion. One of her recent publica-
tions includes Legacy in Cloth: Batak textiles of
Indonesia (2009). She has worked as an as-
sociate professor at the University van Alberta
(1992-2003) and curator and a lecturer at the
Museum of Anthropology, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver.
Walid Raad
Walid Raads (b. 1967) ongoing pro-
ject Scratching on Things I Could Disavow
focuses on the creation and expansion of art
museums, galleries, schools, and cultural foun-
dations in the Middle East, particularly in cities
like Abu Dhabi, Doha, Beirut, and Cairo. In-
trigued by the increased visibility of the mak-
ers, sponsors, consumers, and interpreters of
Arab art, and by the recent acceleration of
this development in the Middle East, the artist
explores his ideological, economic, political,
and aesthetic dimensions through photogra-
phy, sculpture, video, and installation. Raads
works presented in the Biennale complement
his continued grappling with the causes and
implications of the emergence of these new
infrastructures for the arts in the Arab world.
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
stallation, performance, and sound. Her se-
ries, Reconstitutions (2013) takes its cue from
the aesthetic of the cinematic image, meditat-
ing upon the ctionalization of the real.
Born in Casablanca, Marou now lives and
works between Lille and Tangier. She studied
at Institut national des beaux-arts de Ttouan,
cole suprieure des beaux-arts dAngers and
Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contem-
porains. She has exhibited in group shows
including Salons Curnonsky, Angers (2012);
Galerie de lAngle, Paris (2013); and the Bi-
ennale of Young Artists, Houilles (2014).
Agnes Meyer-Brandis
Agnes Meyer-Brandis (b.1973) is an artist
whose practice confronts poetics with nano-
technology, uid dynamics research, and me-
teorology. Working to prove, test, or explore
the ctive, Meyer-Brandis blends humor with
sincerity as she conducts experiments later pre-
sented as lms, installations, and lectures. Her
commission for the Marrakech Biennale, 42 -
The Large METEOR T-R-A-P (Terrestrial-Rerout-
ing-Array-Pad) (2014), is an instrument and
sculpture installed outside the city. An array of
spiral antennae, presumably extending deep
below the earths surface, creates a magnetic
hole in the earths atmosphere. Passing mete-
ors attracted to the antennae are caught and
fall down the magnetic hole. The project aims
to implant a story into the memory of a city,
exploring the relationship between scientic
models of knowledge and the methods of sto-
rytelling that inform our perceptions of reality.
Meyer-Brandis lives and works in Berlin.
She is the founder of Forschungsoss FFUR /
Research Raft for Subterranean Reefology. She
has exhibited at FACT Foundation for Art
and Creative Technology, Liverpool (2011);
California Museum of Photography, Los An-
geles (2013); and Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
(20132014).
Sandra Niessen
Sandra Niessen (b.1954), a Canadi-
an-Dutch anthropologist and independent
Prix De Volkskrant pour lart (2012).
Saud Mahjoub
Saud Mahjoub (n en 1957) est un pho-
tographe dont le travail a volu tant vers
une pratique artistique que commerciale. Ses
photographies expressionnistes et abstraites
sont inuences par le surralisme et la pho-
tographie conceptuelle. Il a jou un rle dter-
minant dans lmergence de la photographie
contemporaine en Arabie Saoudite.
Mahjoub est n la Mecque. Il est diplm
de lUniversit du Roi Abdulaziz, avec une li-
cence en architecture du paysage. Il est lancien
directeur de la Maison des photographes saou-
diens, lancien coordinateur de la Fdration
internationale de la photographie dart (FIAP)
et lancien chef du dpartement de photogra-
phie de la Socit pour la culture et les arts
Djeddah. Son travail est actuellement promu
par Arabian Wings.
Randa Marou
Le travail pluridisciplinaire de Randa Ma-
rou (ne en 1987) est aliment par des proc-
cupations politiques, et sintresse en priorit
aux tudes de genre. Ses uvres se prsentent
sous la forme de lms, de vidos, de photogra-
phies, dinstallations, de performances et de
sons. Sa srie Reconstitutions (2013) sinspire
de lesthtique de limage cinmatographique,
initiant une mditation sur la transformation
du rel par la ction.
Ne Casablanca, Marou vit et travaille
aujourdhui Lille et Tanger. Elle a tudi
lInstitut national des beaux-arts de Ttouan,
lEcole suprieure des beaux-arts dAngers et
au Fresnoy Studio national des arts contem-
porains. Elle a particip des expositions col-
lectives, notamment aux Salons Curnonsky
Angers (2012), la Galerie de lAngle Paris
(2013) et la Biennale des jeunes artistes de
Houilles (2014).
Agnes Meyer-Brandis
Agns Meyer-Brandis (ne en 1973) est
une artiste dont le travail met en face face la
breuses vitrines du muse, questionnant le rle
dinstitutions comme celle-ci par rapport aux
traditions orales et musicales de lAfrique du
nord.
Lester vit et travaille Amsterdam. Il a t
en rsidence la Rijksakademie dAmsterdam
(19992000). Son travail a t expos la
29
me
Biennale de Sao Paulo (2010), Perfor-
ma New-York (2013), la 55
me
Biennale de
Venise (2013) et la 11
me
Biennale de Sharjah
(2013).
Tala Madani
La peinture de Tala Madani (ne en 1981)
se caractrise par un trait de pinceau uide
et expressif, simprgnant de couleurs fortes
et originales. Fortement narratives et riches
en ironie, les uvres de Madani donnent
voir des mises en scne lhumour noir. Si ses
grandes toiles les plus abstraites contiennent
en gnral un groupe ou un collectif, Madani
produit aussi des toiles chelle plus intime,
plus ralistes, ainsi que des animations vido
picturales qui montrent des scnes pnibles
dans lesquelles des hommes chauves dge
moyen participent des scnarios absurdes
mlant, de faon ludique, la violence et la per-
versit. Les peintures de Madani constituent
de puissantes mditations sur la tension qui
existe entre les strotypes et les icnes. A lin-
vitation de la Biennale, Madani a ralis des
animations aprs une priode de recherche
passe dans diverses villes du Maroc.
Madani est ne en Iran. Aujourdhui, elle
vit et travaille Los Angeles. Elle a obtenu un
Master en arts de lcole dart de lUniversi-
t de Yale. Ses dernires expositions en solo
se sont tenues au Stedelijk Museum Bureau
Amsterdam (2011) et au Moderna Museet
Malm et Stockholm (2013). Elle a particip
des expositions collectives au New Museum
New-York (2009), au MoMA PS1 de New-
York (2010), au Muse De Hallen Ams-
terdam (2011), la 56
me
Biennale de Venise
(2011) et lArtpace de San Antonio (2013).
Madani a reu le Prix Catherine Doctorow
pour la peinture contemporaine (2013) et le
51
53
background and her role as a contemporary
artist. For the Biennale, she presents Teaching
as an Adolescent (2014), a collaborative per-
formance in which she will remain in a hotel
room for the opening week of the exhibition.
There she will lead students in a seminar dis-
cussing literature, writing, and experimental
pedagogy. These sessions will be streamed
live to venues around the Biennale. The group
Teaching as an adolescent has previously ex-
hibited at Forde, Geneva (2012) and Consor-
tium, Dijon (2013).
Reynaud-Dewar teaches at Haute cole
dart et de design de Genve and is the
co-founder of Petunia. She has participated
in group exhibitions at the Berlin Biennial
(2008); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2009); Witte
de With, Rotterdam (2011 & 2010), and Stu-
dio Museum Harlem (2013). Her solo exhi-
bitions and projects include Kunsthalle Basel
(2010); Karma International, Zurich (2012);
Frieze Projects, London (2013); and Belve-
dere, Vienna (2013).
Pamela Rosenkranz
Pamela Rosenkranz (b. 1979) investigates
the systems by which people give meaning to
the natural world, reecting on our need to
anthropomorphize and construct metaphors to
navigate our environment. She uses an under-
standing of non-identity as a methodology
to eschew identity politics, which to her have
become suspect through marketing strategies
and consumption. Rosenkranzs site-specic in-
stallation for the Biennale, Clean Eyes (2014),
continues her research into the corporatization
of water thorough a reading of the history of
the color blue. The color of the sky by pro-
cess of light refracted from the oceans, blue
is the pigment that our eye can perceive more
shades of than any other.
Rosenkranz lives and works in Amsterdam
and New York. She has shown internationally
in solo shows at Centre dArt Contemporain,
Geneva (2010); Swiss Institute, New York
(2011); and Kunsthalle Basel (2012); as well
as in group shows at the 5
th
Berlin Biennial
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
Raad was born in Lebanon and now lives
and works in Beirut and New York. He holds
a PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies from the
University of Rochester and is associate profes-
sor of art at The Cooper Union in New York. In
2010 he was awarded the Hasselblad Award.
He has exhibited internationally, including
at Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010) and
dOCUMENTA (11) and (13), Kassel (2002 &
2012).
Younes Rahmoun
Younes Rahmoun (b.1975) is a multidisci-
plinary artist whose works evoke his personal
universe, one connected to Su philosophy
and practice. Bringing local craft to bear on
new technology, his works seek a vocabulary
to translate the transcendental into the tangi-
ble. A universality of address is thus a cen-
tral aim. Often repetition, incantation, and
references to meditation are strategies used to
create a spiritual and visceral response in the
viewer.
Rahmoun was born in Ttouan, where
he lives and works. He trained at the Institut
national des beaux-arts, Ttouan (1998) and
the Lyce Technique Moulay Youssef, Tangier
(1994). He has exhibited in solo and group
shows internationally, including Lappartement
22, Rabat (2011); Palais de Tokyo, Paris
(2012); Muse dArt Contemporain, Marseille
(2013); La Cunsthale, Mulhouse (2013); and
MACBA, Barcelona (2014).
Lili Reynaud-Dewar with Dorine
Aguerre, Chlo Delarue, Camille Dumont,
Lou Masduraud, Lea Meier, Nastasia
Meyrat, and Laura Vaissade
Lili Reynaud-Dewar (b. 1975) combines
performance, video, and sculpture to produce
projects that involve her friends and family,
students, and her own body. Confronting her
biography and practice with the legacy of
emblematic gures, such as dancer Josephine
Baker, musician Sun Ra, and writers Jean
Genet and Guillaume Dustan, Reynaud-De-
war disrupts the expectations related to her
que chantent traditionnellement les tisseurs.
Le lm a t ramen dans le Nord de Sumatra
en septembre 2013.
Niessen est docteur en anthropologie, di-
plme de lUniversit de Leiden, aux Pays-
Bas. Elle a pass des annes travailler sur le
terrain en Indonsie, au Mexique et en Tha-
lande. Son domaine de recherche comprend
les textiles indonsiens ainsi que la mode et
lartisanat non-occidentaux. Rcemment, elle
a publi Legacy in Cloth: Batak textiles of In-
donesia (2009). Elle a t professeur adjointe
lUniversit de van Alberta (1992-2003), com-
missaire et confrencire au Muse danthro-
pologie de lUniversit de British Columbia
Vancouver.
Walid Raad
Lactuel projet de Walid Raad (n en 1967),
intitul Scratching on Things I Could Disa-
vow, examine la cration et la multiplication
des muses, galeries et coles dart ainsi que
des fondations culturelles au Moyen-Orient, en
particulier dans des villes comme Abou Dhabi,
Doha, Beyrouth et Le Caire. Intrigu par la vi-
sibilit croissante des fabricants, des sponsors,
des consommateurs et des interprtes de lart
arabe ainsi que par les rcentes acclrations
de ce dveloppement au Moyen-Orient, lar-
tiste explore leurs dimensions idologique,
conomique, politique et esthtique au tra-
vers de photographies, sculptures, vidos et
installations. Le travail de Raad prsent la
Biennale vient complter ses incessantes tenta-
tives pour saisir les causes et consquences de
lmergence de ces nouvelles structures ddies
aux arts dans le monde arabe.
Raad est n au Liban. Il vit et travaille au-
jourdhui Beyrouth et New-York. Il a obtenu
une thse dtudes visuelles et culturelles de
lUniversit de Rochester et est professeur ad-
joint dart au Cooper Union de New-York. En
2010, il a reu le Prix Hasselblad. Ses uvres
ont t exposes [au niveau international, y
compris] la Galerie Whitechapel Londres
(2010) et la dOCUMENTA (11) et (13)
Kassel (2002 & 2012).
posie avec les nanotechnologies, la recherche
en mcanique des uides et la mtorologie.
Cherchant prouver, tester et explorer le
ctif, Meyer-Brandis marie lhumour la sin-
crit au l des expriences quelle conduit, et
qui seront ensuite prsentes sous la forme de
lms, dinstallations et de confrences. Pour la
Biennale de Marrakech, elle a ralis 42 - The
Large METEOR T-R-A-P (Terrestrial-Rerou-
ting-Array-Pad) (2014), la fois instrument
et sculpture, qui est install lextrieur de la
ville. Un ensemble dantennes en spirale, qui
se prolonge vraisemblablement sous la surface
de la terre et cre un trou magntique dans
latmosphre terrestre. Les mtores passant
proximit sont attirs par les antennes et
tombent dans le trou magntique. Le projet
vise inscrire une histoire dans la mmoire
dune ville, en explorant la relation existante
entre les modles de connaissance scientique
et les mthodes de narration qui orientent nos
perceptions de la ralit.
Meyer-Brandis vit et travaille Berlin. Elle
est la fondatrice de Forschungsoss FFUR /
Radeau de recherche en rcifologie souter-
raine. Ses uvres ont t exposes la FACT
Foundation for Art and Creative Technolog
de Liverpool (2011), au California Museum
of Photography Los Angeles (2013), et au
Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin (20132014).
Sandra Niessen
Sandra Niessen (ne en 1954) est une
anthropologue, crivaine et chercheuse ind-
pendante dorigine hollando-canadienne. Elle
travaille avec MJA Nashir (n en 1973), un ar-
tiste javanais, depuis 2010. Leur lm Rangsa
ni Tonun (2013) sintresse lart du tissage
batak (Sumatra du nord, Indonsie) travers
le regard dun chaman du XIX
e
sicle. A la
fois mythologique et lgendaire, le texte dont
sinspire le lm appartient au rpertoire oral
dun gourou batak. La description se termine
en faisant rfrence Si Boru Hasagian, le
premier tisseur batak dont lhistoire veut que
soient issus tous les tisseurs batak. La chan-
son principale du lm est une chanson oublie,
53
55
new, ctional landscapes. The project invites
the audience to rediscover their environment
through the experience of listening.
Raimondo has participated in international
exhibitions and festivals, including Transmedi-
ale, Berlin (2013). She creates radiophonic
works for broadcast; her curatorial projects,
which focus on sound and radio art, have
been presented in different venues, including
the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Baba-Ali lives and works in Brussels
and Casablanca. He graduated from Ecole
suprieure dart dAix-en-Provence (2011).
He was recently awarded the Lopold Sdar
Senghor prize at the 10
th
DakArt - Biennial of
Contemporary African Art (2012).
JG Thirlwell
JG Thirlwell is an Australian composer,
producer, and performer based in Brooklyn.
His catalogue is extensive, and he has worked
under many pseudonyms including Foetus,
Steroid Maximus, Manorexia, Baby Zizanie,
and Wiseblood. He has also collaborated
with Kronos Quartet, LEMUR, and Bang On
a Can. Thirlwell performs with a chamber en-
semble version of his Manorexia project. He
scores the television show The Venture Brothers
on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network.
Eric van Hove
Eric van Hove (b.1975) is a nomadic artist
whose work is committed to creating links be-
tween local and global issues. In Marrakech,
he presents V12 Laraki (2013), the conclusion
of nine months of work. V12 Laraki is a repli-
ca of the Mercedes-Benz V12 engine used by
Abdeslam Laraki in the Laraki Fulgara, Moroc-
cos rst high-performance luxury car. Laraki
had hoped to manufacture the car entirely in
Morocco but was forced to import its engine
from Germany. V12 Laraki brings the dream
of a Moroccan-made engine full circle. Each
of its 465 components were handcrafted in 53
traditional materials, including ceramic, bone,
tin, goatskin, and terracotta, by 57 Moroccan
artisans. Both the V12 Mercedes-Benz and the
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
(2008); Manifesta 7, Rovetero (2008); and
Tate Britain, London (2010).
Khaled Sabsabi
Khaled Sabsabis (b. 1965) site-specic,
multimedia installations present intensively me-
diated experiences that explore processes of
routine and their ability to distill time. His
work creates spaces that engage the certain-
ties of the physical and the individual with the
uncertainties of emotion. His new commission
70,000 Veils (2014) examines the complex-
ity of religion and spirituality in the digital
era. Based on Su understandings of light,
and the Prophet Mohammeds (PBUH) teach-
ing that there are 70,000 veils of light and
darkness separating the individual from the di-
vine, this video meditates on the role of light as
metaphorical and physical presence, hinting
at that which lies beyond the imagination.
Sabsabi was a recipient of the Australia
Council for the Arts Fellowship and the prestig-
ious 60th annual Blake Prize. He has had solo
exhibitions at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre,
Sydney (2005); Campbelltown Arts Centre,
Sydney (2007); Artspace Sydney (2012); and
has participated in group exhibitions includ-
ing the 11
th
Sharjah Biennale (2013); the 9
th
Shanghai Biennale (2012); and the 18
th
Bien-
nale of Sydney (2012).
Saout Radio
Saout Radio is a web-radio platform that
explores radiophonic and sound art practic-
es with a focus on the Maghreb, Africa, and
the Middle East. The project was founded by
artists Younes Baba-Ali (b.1986) and Anna
Raimondo (b.1981) with the aim of creating
a south-south dialogue. Here. Now. Where?
(2014) is a sonic urban ambulation installed in
taxis around Marrakech during the rst week
of the Biennale. The content for the project
has been generated through a combination of
open call and commissioned pieces, building
a collection of soundscapes from different sen-
sibilities, languages, and formats. These sonic
works refer to physical places but also create
des tudiants sur la littrature, lcriture et la
pdagogie exprimentale. Ces sessions seront
retransmises en direct dans diffrents lieux de
la Biennale. Le groupe Enseigner comme une
adolescente a prcdemment expos lespace
Forde Genve (2012) et au Consortium de
Dijon (2013).
Reynaud-Dewar enseigne la Haute cole
dart et de design de Genve et est la co-fonda-
trice de Petunia. Elle a particip des exposi-
tions de groupe la Biennale de Berlin (2008),
au Centre Georges Pompidou Paris (2009),
Witte de With Rotterdam (2011 & 2010) et
au Studio Museum Harlem (2013). Ses exposi-
tions et ses projets individuels ont t montrs
au Kunsthalle de Ble (2010), la Karma In-
ternational de Zurich (2012), Frieze Projects
Londres (2013) et au Belvedere de Vienne
(2013).
Pamela Rosenkranz
Pamela Rosenkranz (ne en 1979) tu-
die les systmes qui permettent aux gens de
donner un sens la nature, en laborant une
rexion sur notre besoin danthropomor-
phisme et notre tendance avoir recours des
mtaphores pour explorer notre environne-
ment. Elle se sert de sa comprhension de la
non-identit comme dune mthodologie
an dviter les politiques identitaires que les
stratgies marketing et la consommation ont
rendues suspectes. Linstallation in situ que
Rosenkranz a ralise pour la Biennale, Clean
Eyes (2014), prolonge ses recherches sur la
privatisation de leau travers une lecture de
lhistoire de la couleur bleue, qui est aussi la
couleur du ciel en raison du processus de r-
exion de la lumire sur la surface des ocans.
De tous les pigments, le bleu est celui dont
lil humain peroit le plus de nuances.
Rosenkranz vit et travaille Amsterdam et
New-York. Ses uvres ont t montres inter-
nationalement, lors dexpositions en solo au
Centre dart contemporain de Genve (2010),
lInstitut suisse de New-York (2011) et au
Kunsthalle de Ble (2012), ainsi que dexpo-
sitions collectives la 5
me
Biennale de Berlin
Younes Rahmoun
Younes Rahmoun (n en 1975) est un ar-
tiste pluridisciplinaire dont le travail voque
un univers personnel qui entretient des liens
avec la philosophie et la pratique soues. En
amenant lartisanat local sappuyer sur de
nouvelles technologies, son travail cherche un
vocabulaire qui traduise le transcendantal en
formes tangibles. Atteindre luniversel en est
donc lun des objectifs principaux. Souvent la
rptition, lincantation et les rfrences la
mditation sont des stratgies employes pour
crer, chez le spectateur, une raction spiri-
tuelle et viscrale.
Rahmoun est n Ttouan, o il vit et
travaille. Il a t form lInstitut national
des beaux-arts de Ttouan (1998) et au Lyce
technique Moulay Youssef Tanger (1994).
Il a particip des expositions individuelles
et de groupe au niveau international, notam-
ment Lappartement 22 Rabat (2011), au
Palais de Tokyo Paris (2012), au Muse
dArt Contemporain de Marseille (2013), La
Cunsthale de Mulhouse (2013) et au MACBA,
Barcelone (2014).
Lili Reynaud-Dewar avec Dorine
Aguerre, Chlo Delarue, Camille Dumont,
Lou Masduraud, Lea Meier, Nastasia
Meyrat, Laura Vaissade
Lili Reynaud-Dewar (ne en 1975) allie
la performance, la vido et la sculpture pour
raliser des projets qui impliquent ses amis et
sa famille, ses tudiants ainsi que son propre
corps. Confrontant lhistoire de sa vie et de
son art lhritage de personnalits emblma-
tiques comme la danseuse Josphine Baker, le
musicien Sun Ra et les crivains Jean Genet et
Guillaume Dustan, Reynaud-Dewar bouscule
les attentes attaches sa formation et son
rle en tant quartiste contemporaine. Pour la
Biennale, elle prsente Enseigner comme une
adolescente (2014), une performance collec-
tive dans laquelle elle restera dans une chambre
dhtel pendant toute la semaine douverture
de lexposition. L, elle mnera un dbat avec
55
57
museum, Westerwald (2013).
Asim Waqif
References to ecology and anthropology
weave through the work of Asim Waqif (b.
1978). These concerns are born of extensive
research on vernacular systems of ecological
management, especially with respect to water,
waste, and architecture. Waqifs artworks em-
ploy manual processes that are deliberately
painstaking and laborious, while the products
are often temporary and sometimes even de-
signed to decay. His recent large-scale inter-
active installations combine traditional and
new media technologies. For the Biennale,
Waqif stages an architectural intervention at
the Palais Badii. This work follows from his cur-
rent projects that attempt a crossover between
architecture, art, and design, with a strong
contextual reference to contemporary urban
design and the politics of occupying, interven-
ing in, and using public spaces.
Waqif was born in Hyderabad, and he
studied architecture at the School of Planning
and Architecture in Delhi, where he now lives
and works. He has exhibited in solo shows in-
ternationally, most recently at Palais de Tokyo,
Paris (2012) and in group shows at Project
88, Mumbai (2010); Lalit Kala Academi, Delhi
(2010 & 2011); Nature Morte, Berlin (2011);
and Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv (2012).
Patrick Wokmeni
Patrick Wokmenis (b.1985) photographs
are linked directly to his homeland of post-co-
lonial Cameroon, and the migratory routes
and dead ends faced by his friends and fellow
Cameroonians. Wokmeni grew up in New
Bell, a busy neighborhood in Douala, where
he roams the streets at night photographing
alternative cultures in post-independent Came-
roon. He is a neur, and Beautiful New Bell
(2006) bears witness to beauty and sadness
in the citys debauchery, decay, and social cri-
sis. His snapshot photography is democratic
in its treatment of its subjects, leveling each to
the status of human. Wokmenis most recent
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
V12 Laraki are equal if nontransferable prod-
ucts of human excellencethe former of a hun-
dred years of Western engineering, the latter
of a thousand years of Moroccan heritage.
Van Hove was born in Algeria but grew
up in Cameroon and lives regularly in Japan.
Solo exhibitions include Institut suprieur du
langage plastique, Brussels (2010); CCC,
Tours (2013); and STUK Kunstencentrum, Leu-
ven (2014). Group exhibitions include Van
Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2007); National
Museum of Algiers (2009); BOZAR Muse-
um, Brussels (2010); La Maison Rouge, Paris
(2013); and MUDAM, Luxembourg (2015).
Anne Verhoijsen
In videos, performances, and interactive
installations, Anne Verhoijsen (b. 1951) in-
terweaves fragmentary impressions into nar-
ratives that explore the formation of identity
and power of the imagination. The result of
long-term investigations, her lms piece togeth-
er interviews with individuals from all walks of
life, her gentle but insistent line of questioning
revealing intimate human stories and exposing
broader issues. In Visions of Paradise (2008)
the artist presents a series of short interviews
around Adam and Eves expulsion from Para-
dise. Speaking with Christians, Muslims, and
atheists, the lm features Verhoijsens relatives
in the Netherlands, then moves outward to in-
dividuals in Lebanon, Bosnia, and eventually
Morocco. Through seemingly innocent ques-
tions her subjects discuss the core aspects of
the creation story: disobedience and freedom
of choice. The return of the work to Morocco
allows those who took part to reconnect with
the project and the visions they generously
shared.
Verhoijsen works and lives in the Nether-
lands. She was educated in social pedagogy
and pursued a career in social work before
studying art at the Sandberg Institute in Am-
sterdam (20002002). Verhoijsen has exhib-
ited internationally at Textile Museum, Tilburg
(2002); Womens Art Festival, Syria (2004);
World Expo, Shanghai (2010); and Keramik-
jusqu ce que soit rassemble une collection
de paysages sonores en difrents formats, lan-
gues et sensibilits. Ces pices sonores font r-
frence des lieux existants mais crent aussi
de nouveaux paysages imaginaires. Le projet
invite le public redcouvrir son environne-
ment au travers dune exprience dcoute.
Raimondo a particip des expositions
et des festivals internationaux, comme Trans-
mediale Berlin (2013). Elle ralise des pices
radiophoniques pour diffusion. En tant que
commissaire dexposition, elle a mis en place
plusieurs projets autour de lart de la radio et
du son, dans diffrents lieux comme le Muse
Victoria et Albert Londres.
Baba-Ali vit et travaille Bruxelles et Ca-
sablanca. Il est diplm de lcole suprieure
dart dAix-en-Provence (2011). Il a rcem-
ment reu le Prix Lopold Sdar Senghor lors
de la 10
me
Biennale dart africain contempo-
rain DakArt (2012).
JG Thirlwell
JG Thirlwell est un compositeur, produc-
teur et performeur australien vivant Brook-
lyn New-York. Son vaste catalogue la vu
travailler sous de nombreux pseudonymes
tels que Ftus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia,
Baby Zizanie et Wiseblood. Il a galement col-
labor avec Quartet Kronos, LEMUR et Bang
On A Can. Thirlwell prsentera une version
de son projet Manorexia dans une version de
musique de chambre. Il mettra en partition
lmission Venture Brothers de la chane Adult
Swim/Cartoon Network.
Eric van Hove
Eric van Hove (n en 1975) est un artiste
nomade qui sengage, travers son travail,
crer des liens entre des problmes rgionaux
et mondiaux. A Marrakech, il prsente V12
Laraki (2013), rsultat de neuf mois de travail.
V12 Laraki est une rplique du moteur V12
de Mercedez-Benz utilis par Abdeslam Laraki
dans la Laraki Fulgara, la premire voiture de
sport de luxe du Maroc. Laraki avait espr
fabriquer la voiture entirement au Maroc,
(2008), au Manifesta 7 de Rovetero (2008) et
la Tate Britain de Londres (2010).

Khaled Sabsabi
Khala Sabsabi (n en 1965) cr des ins-
tallations multimdias ad hoc extrmement
mdiatises qui explorent la notion de routine,
et la capacit de celle-ci diluer le temps. Son
travail ouvre des espaces o se mlent les cer-
titudes physiques et les doutes motionnels de
chaque individu. Sa nouvelle uvre 70,000
Veils (2014) se penche sur la complexit de
la religion et de la spiritualit dans lre digi-
tale. Cette vido rchit au rle de la lumire
comme une prsence physique et mtapho-
rique qui ouvre la possibilit dun au-del de
limagination. Elle sinspire de la conception
soue de la lumire et des enseignements du
prophte Mahomet (pbAsl) quant lexistence
de 70 000 voiles de lumire et dobscurit s-
parant lindividu du divin.
Sabsabi a reu une bourse dtudes de
lAustralia Council for the Arts. Il a gagn la
60
me
dition du prestigieux Prix Blake. Il a
expos en solo au Centre dArt Casula Powe-
rhouse de Sydney (2007) ; Artspace Sydney
(2012) ; au Centre dArt Campbelltown de
Sydney (2007) ; Artspace Sydney (2012). Il a
galement particip des expositions collec-
tives telles que la 11
me
Biennale de Sharjah
(2013) ; la 9
me
Biennale de Shanghai (2012) ;
et la 18
me
Biennale de Sydney (2012).
Saout Radio
Saout Radio est une radio en ligne qui
sintresse aux pratiques artistiques radiopho-
niques et sonores, plus particulirement au
Maghreb, en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient. Le
projet a t fond par les artistes Younes Baba-
Ali (n en 1986) et Anna Raimondo (ne en
1981) avec pour ambition dinitier un dialogue
sud-sud. Here. Now. Where? (2014) est une
dambulation urbaine sonore qui sera diffuse
dans les taxis de tout Marrakech au cours de
la premire semaine de la Biennale. Le contenu
du projet a t labor partir dune combinai-
son dappels contribution et de commandes,
57
59
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
works, Rabat Series (2014), were made in Ra-
bat and feature the artists friends stranded in
the city, waiting to attempt to make passage to
Europe.
Wokmeni was a resident at MTN Founda-
tion, Douala. He has exhibited international-
ly at BOZAR, Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels
(2010); Savvy Contemporary, Berlin (2010);
DakArt - Biennale de lArt Africain Contempo-
rain (2010); and Studio 41, Glasgow (2012).
Katarina Zdjelar
Voice, identity, and community are central
lines of inquiry in the work of Katarina Zd-
jelar (b. 1979), whose practice encompasses
sound pieces, publications, and platforms for
exchange. Her new lm commissioned for the
Biennale, Into the interior (The last day of the
permanent exhibition) (2014), centers around
the collection and display of the last remaining
colonial museum, The Royal Museum for Cen-
tral Africa in Belgium. Focusing on dioramas
and animal trophies, travelogues and archi-
val material, the work addresses the building
of Empire through hunting and animal life.
On December 1, 2013, the museum closed
its doors for renovation. Zdjelars lm registers
a nal moment before the museums now ossi-
ed historical and cultural narrative draws to
a close, thus marking the end of an era.
Zdjelar was born in Belgrade and now
lives and works in Rotterdam. She completed
a residency at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam
(20102011). Zdjelar has exhibited interna-
tionally at the 53
rd
Venice Biennial (2009);
Circus Gallery, Berlin (2012); Artium Muse-
um, Vitoria-Gasteiz (2013); and the 42
nd
Inter-
national Film Festival, Rotterdam (2013).
59
intervenants en viennent aborder des aspects
essentiels de lhistoire de la cration : la dso-
bissance et la libert de choix. Le retour de
luvre au Maroc permet ceux qui y ont par-
ticip de renouer avec le projet et les opinions
quils y ont gnreusement partages.
Verhoijsen vit et travaille aux Pays-Bas.
Elle a reu une formation en pdagogie et
men une carrire dans le domaine social,
avant dtudier lart lInstitut Sandberg
dAmsterdam (2000-2002). Ses uvres ont
t exposes au Muse du textile de Tilbourg
(2002), au Festival dart des femmes en Syrie
(2004), la World Expo de Shanghai (2010) et
au Keramikmuseum de Westerwald (2013).
Asim Waqif
Des rfrences lcologie et lanthro-
pologie rsonnent travers le travail dAsim
Waqif (n en 1978). Ces proccupations sont
nes de recherches pousses sur les systmes
vernaculaires de gestion de lenvironnement,
en particulier de leau, des dchets et de lha-
bitat. Pour raliser ses uvres, Waqif emploie
des processus manuels qui sont volontaire-
ment exigeants et laborieux, alors que ses pro-
ductions sont souvent phmres, et parfois
mme conues pour se dgrader. Ses dernires
installations interactives de grande ampleur al-
lient des technologies traditionnelles aux nou-
velles technologies de la communication. Pour
la Biennale, Waqif a mis en scne une inter-
vention architecturale au Palais El Badi. Cette
uvre sinscrit dans la ligne de ses projets
actuels, qui sefforcent de croiser architecture,
art et design, en se rfrant contextuellement
au design urbain contemporain et aux strat-
gies doccupation, dintervention et dutilisa-
tion des espaces publics.
Waqif est n Hyderabad et a tudi
larchitecture la School of Planning and
Architecture de Delhi, o il vit et travaille ac-
tuellement. Ses uvres ont t exposes inter-
nationalement, en particulier rcemment au
Palais de Tokyo Paris (2012). Il a particip
des expositions collectives au Project 88 de
Mumbai (2010), la Lalit Kala Academi
mais il fut contraint dimporter son moteur
dAllemagne. V12 Laraki permet de boucler
la boucle, dexaucer le rve dun moteur en-
tirement fabriqu au Maroc. Chacun de ses
465 composants a t ralis la main dans
lun des 53 matriaux traditionnels comme la
cramique, los, le fer, la peau de chvre et la
terra cotta par 57 artisans marocains. Le V12
Mercedez-Benz comme le V12 Laraki sont
gaux en ce sens o ils sont tous deux des
produits nominatifs de lexcellence humaine
le premier de centaines dannes dingnirie
occidentale, le second dun hritage marocain
vieux dun millnaire.
Van Hove est n en Algrie mais a gran-
di au Cameroun et habite rgulirement au
Japon. Ses expositions en solo se sont drou-
les lInstitut suprieur du langage plastique,
Bruxelles (2010), au CCC de Tours (2013) et
au STUK Kunstencentrum Louvain (2014).
Il a particip des expositions de groupe au
Van Abbemuseum dEindhoven (2007), au
Muse national dAlger (2009), au BOZAR
Bruxelles (2010), la Maison Rouge Paris
(2013) et au MUDAM du Luxembourg (2015)

Anne Verhoijsen
Dans ses vidos, performances et instal-
lations interactives, Anne Verhoijsen (ne en
1951) assemble des impressions fragmentaires
en des histoires qui explorent la formation de
lidentit et le pouvoir de limagination. R-
sultant denqutes de longue haleine, ses lms
regroupent des interviews de gens de toutes
origines quelle interroge avec autant de dli-
catesse que dinsistance, an de rvler leurs
histoires personnelles et mettre jour des
problmes plus universels. Dans Visions of
Paradise (2008), lartiste prsente une srie de
courtes interviews autour du thme de lex-
pulsion dAdam et ve du paradis. Compos
dentretiens avec des chrtiens, des musulmans
et des athes, le lm montre une partie de la
famille de Verhoijsen aux Pays-Bas, puis sin-
tresse des personnes vivant au Liban, en
Bosnie et nalement, au Maroc. Rpondant
des questions innocentes en apparence, les
61
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
61
Delhi (2010 et 2011), Nature Morte Ber-
lin (2011) et la Galerie Rosenfeld Tel Aviv
(2012).
Patrick Wokmeni
Les photographies de Patrick Wokmeni
(n en 1985) font directement cho son pays
natal, le Cameroun post-colonial, notamment
aux parcours migratoires et aux impasses
auxquelles ont d faire face ses amis et conci-
toyens camerounais. Wokmeni a grandi New
Bell, un quartier anim de Douala, o il se ba-
lade dans les rues, la nuit, pour photographier
les manifestations de cultures alternatives au
Cameroun de laprs-indpendance. Wokmeni
est un neur, et Beautiful New Bell (2006) est
le tmoin de la beaut et de la tristesse ma-
nant de la dbauche, de la dcadence et de la
crise sociale qui frappent la ville. Les sujets
de ses photographies instantanes sont traits
dune manire dmocratiques levant chacun d
entre eux un statut dtre humain. Le dernier
projet de Wokmeni, Rabat Series (2014), a t
ralis Rabat et montre les amis de lartiste
bloqus dans la ville, en attendant de tenter la
traverse vers lEurope.
Wokmeni a t en rsidence la MTN
Foundation de Douala. Ses travaux ont t
exposs internationalement BOZAR, le Pa-
lais des beaux-arts Bruxelles (2010), Sa-
vvy Contemporary Berlin (2010), DakArt,
la Biennale de lArt Africain Contemporain
(2010) et au Studio 41 de Glasgow (2012).
Katarina Zdjelar
La voix, lidentit et la notion de com-
munaut sont des pistes denqute centrales
luvre de Katarina Zdjelar (ne en 1979),
dont le travail comprend des pices sonores,
des publications et des plate-formes dchange.
Le nouveau lm quelle a ralis pour la Bien-
nale, Into the interior (The last day of the
permanent exhibition) (2014), a pour sujet la
collection et les expositions du tout dernier
muse colonial, le Muse royal de lAfrique
centrale en Belgique. A partir de dioramas et
de trophes de chasse, de journaux de voyage
et darchives, luvre sintresse la construc-
tion dun Empire travers la chasse et la vie
animale. Le 1
er
dcembre 2013, le muse a fer-
m ses portes en raison de travaux de rnova-
tion. Le lm de Zdjelar montre un ultime mo-
ment avant que ne prenne n le rcit historique
et culturel que prsentait le muse, aujourdhui
ossi, ce qui marque ainsi la n dune poque.
Zdjelar est ne Belgrade, et vit et tra-
vaille Rotterdam. Elle a t en rsidence
la Rijksakademie dAmsterdam (20102011).
Son travail a t expos au niveau internatio-
nal, notamment la 53
me
Biennale de Venise
(2009), la Circus Gallery de Berlin (2012),
au Muse Artium Vitoria-Gasteiz (2013) et
au 42
me
Festival international du lm de Rot-
terdam (2013).
63
Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Jacob
Kirkegaard, with Maia Urstad, Christine
dlund, Brandon LaBelle, Mike Harding,
Petteri Nisunen & Tommi Grnlund, Franz
Pomassl, Anna Ceeh, BJ Nilsen, The Sons of
God (Kent Tankred & Leif Elggren),
KamarStudios, and leif e.boman
freq_out 10 is a sound installation comprised
of twelve individual sound works, each utiliz-
ing a specic frequency range, made on site,
and amplied to act as a single, generative
sound space. The project is travelling to Mar-
rakech for special inclusion at the Biennale
and is being installed at the Theatre Royal.
The venue will be enriched by twelve differ-
ent sounds using a 24-channel surround-sound
system, engulng the audience in a series of
musical arrangements.
freq_out was formed in 2003 as a curatorial
project by Carl Michael von Hausswolff. The
Marrakech Biennale will comprise the tenth of
a total of twelve installations.
Carl Michael von Hausswolff (b. 1956) uses
recording devices, microphones, and oscilla-
tors when working with audio, and still and
video cameras when working with visuals. His
interests span conceptual post-abstractionism
and social criticism. Von Hausswolff is current-
ly studying the Majorcan mystic Ramon Llull
and the scuttled battleship Admiral Graf Spee.
He collaborates with Leslie Winer and Thomas
Nordanstad.
The works of Danish artist Jacob Kirkegaard
focus on scientic and aesthetic aspects of
sonic perception. He explores acoustic spaces
and phenomena not immediately perceptible
to the human ear.
Sound and visual artist and composer leif e.
boman uses the synergy of science and mag-
ic in his images and sound works. He is the
pioneer of using emission spectroscopy as a
compositional tool.
Anna Ceeh was born in 1974 in St. Peters-
burg. She is a photographer, video artist, con-
cert organizer, and record label manager for
Laton. She currently lives and works in Vienna.
Tommi Grnlund (b.1967) and Petteri Nisunen
(b.1962) have been collaborating since
1993. Their large-scale spatial interventions
and public and gallery installations involve a
variety of materials and technologies, from the
use of objects to light and sound. Grnlund
and Nisunen deal with space, be it physical,
ethereal, or sonic. Their works tend to change
or reshape space and stimulate sensory per-
ception through direct intervention, often with
complex technical installations. Grnlund also
runs the music label Shk Recordings.
Mike Harding (b. 1957) is a curator, produc-
er, lecturer, and music publisher. He has been
running the UK-based audio-visual publishing
house Touch with Jon Wozencroft since 1982.
Harding started the label Ash International
with Robin Rimbaud and OR with Russell Has-
well. In 2004, he founded the project Spire,
which links and develops organ and electronic
music artists.
KamarStudios is a research and creation
laboratory of contemporary music located in
the Medina of Marrakech. It was co-found-
ed in 1999 by Khalid Iame and Philippe
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
freq_out
(since 2003)
Sound installation
63
freq_out 10 est une installation audio com-
pose de douze uvres sonores individuelles.
Chacune diffuse une bande de frquence
conue ad hoc qui, une fois amplie, donne
limpression de ne gnrer quun seul es-
pace-temps. Dans le cadre de la Biennale de
Marrakech, linstallation prendra possession
du Thtre Royal qui senrichira de douze
sons diffrents mis partir dun systme de
son environnant en 24 bandes, qui plongera
le spectateur dans une srie damnagements
musicaux.
freq_out est un projet curatorial cr par Carl
Michael von Hausswolff en 2003. La Biennale
de Marrakech sera le dixime volet de douze
installations.
Carl Michael von Hausswolff (n en 1956) uti-
lise des appareils de captation de sons, des mi-
crophones et des oscillateurs dans son travail
audio, ainsi que des appareils photos et cam-
ras vidos pour la partie visuelle. Il sintresse
la post-abstraction conceptuelle et la cri-
tique sociale. Von Hausswolff mne actuelle-
ment des recherches sur le mystique majorquin
Ramon Llull et la bataille navale saborde de
lAmiral Graf Spee. Il collabore avec Leslie Wi-
ner et Thomas Nordanstad.
Les uvres de lartiste danois Jacob Kirkegaard
explorent les dimensions scientiques et es-
thtiques de la perception sonore, tels que les
espaces et phnomnes acoustiques impercep-
tibles par loreille humaine.
Lartiste sonore et visuel et compositeur leif e.
boman a recours la synergie de la science et
de la magie dans ses images et uvres sonores.
Il fut le premier utiliser les missions spec-
troscopiques comme outil de composition.
Anna Ceeh est ne en 1974 Saint Pters-
bourg. Actuellement installe Vienne, elle
travaille en tant que photographe, vido artiste
et promotrice de concerts. Elle est aussi mana-
ger de la maison de disques Laton.
Tommi Grnlund (n en 1967) and Petteri
Nisunen (n en 1962) travaillent ensemble
depuis 1993. A travers de monumentales in-
terventions spatiales et des installations pu-
bliques ou dans des galeries, ils ont recours
divers matriaux et technologies : des objets
mais aussi de la lumire et des sons. Grn-
lund et Nisunen explorent lespace, quil soit
physique, immatriel ou sonore. Leurs uvres
ont tendance altrer la forme de lespace et
stimuler la perception sensorielle travers des
interventions directes et des installations dune
grande complexit technique. Grnlund dirige
galement le label de musique Shk Recor-
dings.
freq_out
(depuis 2003)
Installation sonore
Carl Michael von Hausswolff et Jacob
Kirkegaard, avec Maia Urstad, Christine
dlund, Brandon LaBelle, Mike Harding,
Petteri Nisunen & Tommi Grnlund, Franz
Pomassl, Anna Ceeh, BJ Nilsen, The Sons of
God (Kent Tankred & Leif Elggren),
KamarStudios, et leif e.boman
65
Lauro-Barans. Khalid Iame (b. 1979), aka
Z-trz, was born in Marrakech. He is self-
taught and signed his rst collaborative album
khalaa in 2000. His invention of a new way
to create music from extracts of voices follows
years of experimentation and research draw-
ing from Gnawa music archives. Abderrazzak
Akhoullil (b. 1979), aka Dj Folani, was born
in Marrakech. He is a descendent of the Gna-
wa people, and he too is self-taught. Akhoul-
lil joined Kamarstudios in 1999. Iame and
Azkhoullil have collaborated on Marrakech
UnderMoon: The Black Album (2007), com-
prising more than three hundred soundscapes
and sound designs, and Peace is not what you
believe (20122013), for the Sharjah Bienni-
al 11.
Brandon LaBelle is an artist and writer living
in Berlin. His work explores questions of so-
cial life using sound, performance, text, and
constructions at specic sites. LaBelle develops
publishing projects and collaborations through
the project space Errant Bodies. His work has
been presented at Netherlands Media Art
Institute, Amsterdam (2003 & 2007); Casa
Vecina, Mexico City (2008); Museums Quarti-
er, Vienna (2009); Center for Cultural Decon-
tamination, Belgrade (2009); Image Music
Text, London (2011); and Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York (2012). He is the
author of Background Noise: Perspectives on
Sound Art (2006); Acoustic Territories: Sound
Culture and Everyday Life (2010); and Diary
of an Imaginary Egyptian (2012).
BJ Nilsen (b.1975) is a sound and recording
artist. He uses primarily eld recordings and
electronic composition to investigate the sound
of nature and its effect on humans. He has
worked for lm, television, theater, dance, and
as a sound designer. His newest work, titled
Eye of the Microphone, is a personal audio
rendition based on the sound of London. Nils-
en is currently working on the publication The
Acoustic City, co-edited with Matthew Gandy
(Berlin: JOVIS Verlag, 2014).
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
Christine dlund moves through art, music,
science, and occultism in a synaesthetic mode.
She has participated in various exhibitions at
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Moder-
na Museet, Stockholm; Magasin 3, Stockholm;
konsthall, Lund; and BiennaleOnline 2013.
Her recent work comprises plants and sound,
circuits and visions of the future, greenhouse
and laboratory environments, occultism and
science, in a continual movement between the
smallest of particles and innity.
Franz Pomassl operates in a permanent lab-
oratory, in a continuous process of probing,
exploring, and optimizing musical and ex-
tramusical territories. He is engaged in the
permanent deconstruction and expansion of
familiar ways of hearing. His work moves
along the boundaries of the human aural per-
ception system and oversteps given aural pa-
rameters of technical equipment. In the course
of extensive research work he has developed
electro-acoustic machines and processes with
which architecture and the physical percep-
tion of space can be transformed. He runs the
inuential label Laton and is a professor at the
Vienna Art Academy.
The Sons of God was cofounded in 1988 by
Leif Elggren and Kent Tankred. Leif Elggrens
varied and prolic output routinely involves
dreams, subtle absurdities, and social hierar-
chies turned upside down. His audio works are
often created as the soundtrack to an installa-
tion or a performance. Kent Tankred studied
painting in the early 1970s before attending
the Institute for Electro-Acoustic Music in Stock-
holm. His interest in musical encounters with
other art forms has resulted in numerous in-
stallations at exhibitions. He co-runs the label
Firework Edition Records based in Stockholm.
Maia Urstad is an artist working at the inter-
section of audio and visual art. Her work inter-
rogates the history and methodology of com-
munications technology: from Morse code and
other long-range signals to digital terrestrial
65
Mike Harding (n en 1957) est commissaire
dexposition, producteur et intervenant. De-
puis 1982, il dirige avec Jon Wozencroft la
maison de production audiovisuelle britan-
nique Touch. Harding est galement lorigine
des labels Ash International avec Robin Rim-
baud, et OR avec Russel Haswell. En 2004, il
cre le projet Spire qui exprimente et promeut
lutilisation de lorgue et des artistes de mu-
sique lectronique.
KamarStudios est un laboratoire de recherche
et de cration de musique contemporaine
cr en 1999 par Khalid Iame et Philippe
Lauro-Barans situ dans la Medina de Mar-
rakech. Khalid Iame (n en 1979), alias
Z-trz est n Marrakech. Autodidacte, il
sort son premier album collaboratif khalaa en
2000. Suite des annes dexprimentation et
de recherche dans les archives de la musique
Gnawa, il dveloppe une nouvelle manire de
faire de la musique partir dextraits de voix.
Abderrazzak Akhoullil (n en 1979), alias
Dj Folani est aussi n Marrakech. Descen-
dant de Gnawa, il est galement autodidacte
et a rejoint Kamarstudios en 1999. Iame et
Azkhoullil ont travaill ensemble sur Mar-
rakech UnderMoon, The Black Album (2007)
qui compte plus de trois-cents paysages et
crations sonores. Ils ont galement collabor
sur Peace is not what you believe (2012-2013)
pour la 11
me
Biennale de Sharjah.
Brandon LaBelle est un artiste et crivain
bas Berlin. Son travail traite des questions
de la vie en socit travers des productions
sonores, des performances, des textes et des
constructions ad hoc. LaBelle travaille ga-
lement sur des projets de publication et des
collaborations dans le cadre de son espace
de cration Errant Bodies. Son travail a t
prsent lInstitut dArt Mdia Nerlandais
dAmsterdam (2003 & 2007) ; la Casa Vecina
Mexico City (2008), au Muse Quartier de
Vienne (2009) ; au Centre de Dcontamination
Culturelle de Belgrade (2009) ; Image Music
Text, Londres (2011) and au Whitney Mu-
seum de New-York (2012). Il est lauteur de
Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art
(2006); Acoustic Territories: Sound Culture
and Everyday Life (2010); et Diary of an Ima-
ginary Egyptian (2012).
BJ Nilsen (n en 1975) est un artiste et auteur
de productions sonores. Il utilise les captations
de son ainsi que des compositions lectro-
niques dans ses recherches sur la nature et de
ses inuences sur lhomme. Il a travaill pour
le cinma, la tlvision, le thtre, la danse
ainsi que comme designer sonore. Son uvre
la plus rcente, Eye Of The Microphone, est
une audio-interprtation personnelle des sons
de Londres. Nilson travaille actuellement la
publication The Acoustic City, co-dit avec
Matthew Gandy (Berlin : JOVIS Verlag, 2014).
Christine dlund a entrepris un voyage synes-
thtique travers lart, la musique, la science
et locculte. Elle a particip de nombreuses
expositions au Muse dArt Contemporain de
Tokyo ; le Moderna Musset de Stockholm ;
Magasin 3, Stockholm; la konsthall de Lund
et la BiennaleOnline 2013. Rcemment, son
travail a recours des plantes et des sons, des
circuits et des visions futuristes, des serres et
des conditions de laboratoire mais aussi loc-
culte et la science, le tout dans un mouve-
ment continuel entre les plus petites particules
et linni.
Franz Pomassi entretient un laboratoire per-
manent dont lobjet est dexprimenter et
doptimiser des territoires musicaux et ex-
tra-musicaux. Il sintresse la dconstruction
permanente ainsi qu lexpansion de la
manire dont nous coutons traditionnelle-
ment. Dans son travail qui se situe la fron-
tire du systme perceptif de loue humaine, il
dpasse rgulirement les paramtres sonores
dlimits par la technique. Il a dvelopp, au
cours dun long travail de recherche, des ma-
chines lectro-acoustiques et des processus
permettant daltrer la perception de lespace
et de larchitecture. Il dirige limportant label
67
networks and the use of ber optics. Radio is
central to her work due to its auditory, visual,
and conceptual possibilities. Urstads solo and
collaborative works have been presented at
Singuhr Sound Gallery, Berlin; Reina Soa Ra-
dio, Madrid; Bergen Art Museum; Johannes-
burg Art Gallery; Prex ICA, Toronto; Mamam
do Patio Recife; and Konsthall, Malmo.
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
67
Laton et est professeur lAcadmie des Arts
de Vienne.
The Sons of God est un collectif cre par Leif
Elggren and Kent Tankred en 1988. Le pro-
lique Leif Elggren a recours des sources
varies telles que les rves, la subtilit de lab-
surde and le renversement des hirarchies so-
ciales. Ses uvres audio servent gnralement
de fonds sonore des installations ou des per-
formances. Kent Tankred a tudi la peinture
dans les annes 70 avant dintgrer lInstitut
de Musique Electro-Acoustique de Stockholm.
Son intrt pour les rencontres musicales entre
diverses formes artistiques la men crer de
nombreuses installations. Il co-dirige le label
Firework Edition Records Stockholm.
Lartiste Maia Urstad travaille la frontire
entre lart audio et lart visuel. Son uvre
sintresse lhistoire et la mthodologie
des technologies de communication : du code
Morse et autres signaux longue bande aux
rseaux digitaux terrestres et lutilisation de la
bre optique. La radio, par ses capacits au-
dio, visuelles et conceptuelles, reprsente un
aspect crucial de son travail. Urstad a prsen-
t ses uvres personnelles et a particip des
collaborations dans les lieux suivants : Singurh
Sound Gallery, Berlin ; Radio Reina Soa, Ma-
drid ; le Muse dArt de Bergen, la Art Gallery
de Johannesburg ; Prex ICA, Toronto ; Ma-
mam do Patio Recife et Konsthall, Malmo.
69
Clara Meister (b.1981) presents Singing Maps
and Underlying Melodies (2014), a performa-
tive project to connect the Biennales different
venues and invite visitors into the city by intro-
ducing them to the variety of Moroccan music.
The project aims to present music as a guide
that animates intersections and side roads and
help visitors to navigate around Marrakech.
Visitors orientate themselves acoustically with
the support of a printed parallel map. The pro-
ject offers a unique path through the Biennale,
playing with different methods of orientation,
such as memory, narrative, and experience.
Meister is a curator based in Berlin. Her prac-
tice focuses on translation, language, and
music. She was the 2012 curator-in-residence
at MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies
Ludlow 38 in New York. Meister is co-founder
of Soundfair, an exhibition collective based in
Berlin and is co-founder and editor of the jour-
nal ...ment.
Singing Maps and Underlying Melodies
was developed in collaboration with the Ber-
lin-based architecture studio S.T.I.F.F., found-
ed in 2011 by Till-Moritz Ganssauge and
Florentin Steininger. Performances during the
Biennale are supported and co-produced by
KamarStudios Morocco and Aniko Boehler.
Visual & Sound Arts
Artist Biographies
Clara Meister
in collaboration with S.T.I.F.F. and KamarStudios Morocco
Singing Maps and Underlying Melodies (2014)
69
Clara Meister (ne en 1981) prsente Sin-
ging Maps and Underlying Melodies (2014),
un projet de performance cherchant mettre
en relation les diffrents emplacements de la
Biennale et inviter les visiteurs dans la ville,
tout en les initiant la richesse de la musique
marocaine. Le projet vise faire de la musique
un guide qui, animant les croisements et les
rues secondaires, permet de trouver son che-
min dans Marrakech. Les visiteurs se dirigent
loreille avec laide dun plan imprim sur
papier. Le projet, qui joue avec diffrentes
mthodes dorientation telles que la mmoire,
le rcit ou lexprience, permet deffectuer un
parcours unique travers la Biennale.
Meister est commissaire dart base Berlin.
Sa pratique se concentre sur la traduction, le
langage et la musique. En 2012, elle a t com-
missaire en rsidence au MINI/Goethe-Institut
Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38 New-
York. Meister est la cofondatrice de Soun-
dfair, un collectif dexposition bas Berlin,
ainsi que cofondatrice et ditrice de la revue
ment.
Singing Maps and Underlying Melodies a t
mis au point en collaboration avec S.T.I.F.F.,
studio darchitecture bas Berlin et fond
en 2011 par Till-Moritz Ganssauge et Floren-
tin Steininger. Les performances au cours de
la Biennale sont nances et co-produites par
KamarStudios Morocco et Aniko Boehler.
Clara Meister
en collaboration avec S.T.I.F.F. et KamarStudios Morocco
Singing Maps and Underlying Melodies (2014)
70 71
The Expansion
of the Realm
of Literature

Driss Ksikes
Artist
Biographies
Lextension du
domaine de la
littrature
Driss Ksikes

Biographies
des artistes
Literature Littrature
73
Literature
The Expansion of the Realm
of Literature
Driss Ksikes, Literature Curator
What are we to do with our literary heritage?
How are we to give a voice to these nely
crafted words, carved into the stone of singu-
lar consciousnesses, irreproducible but open
to a multitude of readings? And these ideas,
shaped with the patience and solitude that the
search for knowledge demands: how are we
to make them resonate, give them life, with-
out ever ossifying or fetishizing them? These
are the questions of reception, translation,
and presentation that troubled me as a lover
of literature when asked to participate in the
Marrakech Biennale.
These questions mask a wish, an anxiety, and
a dream. My wish, a very contemporary one,
is to bring down the barriers between the so-
cial sciences and humanities, between author
and audience, in order to more clearly grasp
the circularity at work: desire creation in-
terpretation. My fear is that the beautiful may
become solemn, dazzling, out of reach, and
so my constant concern during the develop-
ment of this literary program has been to cre-
ate discrepancies and hybrid fusions of places
and forms. Lastly, my dream is that the isolated
moments we devote, now and again, to works
of literature, to thought and insight, might con-
tinue beyond this event and spawn other crea-
tive desires, opening new doors toward other
places, the unknown or the unexpected.
The Local, the Universal
and the Contemporary
In this place, I do not want to celebrate books
as closed, imposing objects, but rather texts
with their multifarious abundance of meanings
and tones. It is not the study of our precious
literary origins that I nd important, but rather
the feelings felt on arrival, by every reader,
once the words have been spoken and the sto-
ries established. It is not the sacredness of in-
tentions that is vital at this meeting place of the
arts, but our ability to decipher the grammar of
the stranger who inhabits each text and whose
words resonate with the reader. The goal here
is to marry the beauty of the texts, the powerful
emotion that a public reading may evoke, and
the subtlety of artistic interpretation. The goal
is also to bring various thought processes
those of thinkers and artists, of researchers
and poets, of experts and novicesinto dia-
logue. In this way we can be at once contem-
porary, local and universal.
This triptych requires two kinds of vigilance:
the rst relates to the relationship with time
and the second with space. The rst requires
a kind of dual skill brilliantly summed up by
the philosopher Giorgio Agamben: the ability
to maintain a singular relationship with ones
own time, which adheres to it and, at the same
time, keeps a distance from it.
1
And the sec-
ond, according to the writer Abdelkbir Khat-
ibi, requires a kind of vigilance that keeps the
reductive concept of specicity at bay and
leads to the more fertile, intercultural notion
of universal polycentrism, which allows us,
without recourse to any kind of hierarchy, to
remain attentive to the signals, gestures and
modes of thought of ones own culture while
remaining curious about other cultures.
2
The meeting of the local, the universal, and the
contemporary has implications for the choice
of where and how to speak. It implies a hori-
zontal, rhizomatic, viral operation: the sites
of discourse are never impenetrable temples
keeping the curious at bay, and the actors
73
Littrature
Lextension du domaine
de la littrature
Driss Ksikes, Commissaire Littrature
Que faire dun patrimoine littraire ? Com-
ment donner un cho des mots cisels, creuss
dans le roc de consciences singulires, non re-
productibles mais ouvertes toutes les lectures
? Et ces ides, forges dans la patience et la so-
litude quexige la qute du savoir, comment les
faire rsonner, leur donner vie, sans jamais les
ger ni les ftichiser ? Ce sont ces questions de
rception, de traduction, de mise en situation
qui me tracassaient en tant quamateur de lit-
trature, lorsquil ma t demand dapporter
ma participation la Biennale dArt de Mar-
rakech.
Derrire ces interrogations se dissimulent une
envie, une angoisse et un rve. Mon envie,
trs contemporaine, est de faire tomber les
barrires entre sciences sociales et humaines,
entre auteurs et rcepteurs, an de mieux sai-
sir la circularit luvre : dsirs crations
interprtations. Mon angoisse est que le beau
devienne solennel, blouissant, hors de porte,
do le souci permanent qui fut le mien lors de
llaboration de ce programme littraire, de
crer des dcalages et des mtissages de formes
et de lieux. Enn, mon rve est que les quelques
moments pars, ici et l, consacrs aux uvres,
aux penses et aux intuitions, se prolongent
par del lvnement et enfante dautres envies
cratrices, ouvrent des lucarnes vers lailleurs,
linconnu ou linattendu.
Le local, luniversel
et le contemporain
Ce ne sont pas les livres comme objets ferms,
imposants, que je voudrais clbrer dans ce
lieu, mais les textes, avec tous les sens et so-
norits qui sen dgagent foison. Ce nest pas
la graphie prcieuse des origines qui mimporte
mais les sensations ressenties larrive, par
chacun, une fois les mots dclams et les his-
toires dployes. Ce nest pas la sacralit des
intentions qui prime, ce carrefour des arts,
mais la capacit dchiffrer la grammaire de
ltranger qui habite chaque texte et fait vibrer
ses lecteurs. Le but est ici de marier la beaut
des textes, la force de leur lecture publique et
la subtilit dune interprtation artistique. Le
but galement est de faire dialoguer les ratio-
nalits, celles des penseurs et des artistes, des
chercheurs et des potes, des tablis et des ap-
prentis. De la sorte, nous pourrons tre la fois
contemporain, local et universel.
Ce triptyque implique deux formes de vigilance.
La premire concerne le rapport au temps, la
seconde lespace. La premire implique une
double comptence magniquement rsume
par le philosophe Giorgio Agamben : adhrer
son temps tout en prenant ses distances
1
.
Et la seconde implique, selon lcrivain Abdel-
kbir Khatibi, une vigilance, qui vous loigne
du concept rducteur de spcicit et vous
amne vers celui, plus mtiss, plus fertile,
de polycentrisme universel
2
, qui permet,
sans hirarchie aucune, de demeurer attentif
aux signaux, gestes et modes de pense de sa
propre culture tout en restant curieux dautres
cultures.
La runion du local, de luniversel et du
contemporain a une incidence sur le choix des
espaces et des modalits de la prise de parole.
Elle implique un fonctionnement horizontal,
rhizomique, viral : les lieux de la parole ne sont
jamais des temples infranchissables, tenant les
curieux distance, et les acteurs qui ont la pa-
role ne sont jamais dans une position inhibi-
trice ou providentielle. Par cette conception, la
75
who speak are never in an inhibiting or prov-
idential position. Through this conception, the
Bienniale is intended to be not just a chance
to debate and compare ideas but also an op-
portunity for texts to be discovered, read, and
set out in space. It is also a democratic occa-
sion on which rationalities and sensibilities are
brought face-to-face.
Thus arose the idea of talking about politics in
a different way, taking art as a point of depar-
ture and of questioning the sacred by means
of diversity. Thus also arose the idea that in the
heart of Jamaa El Fna, the theater space could
be revived as a place of questioning and pub-
lic debate, and the agora could once again
become a civic space for free dialogue.
3
And
thus, nally, arose the idea of spreading the
inuence of this mythical site in two directions:
toward places of culture (in the heart of the
Medina of Marrakech) where the odds and
evens of civic debate agree to confront one
another, and toward places of artistic creativ-
ity where works are reinterpreted in the light
of living, urban, graphic arts, giving them new
and different meanings.
Intersecting Perspectives
and Intercultural Acts
This expansion of the realm of literature to-
ward public spaces cannot succeed without a
constant effort to encourage diverse approach-
es and generate discrepancies capable of pro-
ducing new meaning, hence the proliferation
of intersecting perspectives and intercultural
acts, starting with the bilingual declamation
of texts in the very temple of popular oral ex-
pression. On the fringes of these literary per-
formances, troubadours will act as touts to the
public, and budding artists will present their
visual interpretations of the works being read.
The principle here is to widen the range of lit-
erary translations so that texts may engender
other kinds of signs, through the use of imag-
es, writing, or comic strips.
There will also be something of an intersection
of cultures in an open discussion about artistic
documentaries focusing on the city. We will
seek to break down the walls between scien-
tic rationality and artistic sensibility. The goal
is also to challenge the supposed certainty of
experts regarding the basis of artistic intuition.
In this undertaking, literature is no longer un-
derstood as the kingdom of written signs but
is instead expanded to the world of pictorial
creation.
The two other less subversive expansions will
involve readings of theatrical texts without the
artifact of performancein order to make
them literary objects rather than dramatic
onesas well as debates about contemporary
issues (e.g., the Koran as an open work).
Each time, the choice of texts, actors, speak-
ers, and other participants is determined by a
requirement for diversity. Just like the crucially
important choice of location, the importance
of the questions raised and the sobriety of de-
corum are a response to the constant desire to
remain attentive to meaning, here and now. It
is by means of these detours that literature can
feel completely at home within contemporary
art.
Literature
The Expansion of the Realm of Literature Driss Ksikes
1
Giorgio Agamben, What is the Contemporary?
in What is an Apparatus and Other Essays, trans.
David Kishik and Stefan Pedatella (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2009).
2
Abdelkbir Khatibi, Lart contemporain arabe,
(Paris: Al Manar, 2001).
3
It is important to recall that several respected Mo-
roccan artists (for example, Farid Belkahia, Nabyl
Lahlou, Ahmed Bouanani, and Lahcen Zinoun)
have each attempted to turn Jamaa El Fna into
a place of contemporary creativity, with varying
degrees of success.
75
Biennale se veut en mme temps un moment de
dbat, de confrontation dides, mais aussi un
moment privilgi de dcouverte de textes lire
et mettre en espace. Cest autant un moment
dmocratique o sont mises face face les ra-
tionalits et les sensibilits.
Ainsi est ne lide de parler de politique au-
trement, en partant de lart, et dinterroger le
sacr par le biais de la diversit. Est ne ga-
lement lide de restituer, au cur de Jamaa
El Fna
3
, lespace du thtre en tant que lieu
dinterpellation, de controverse publique et de
lagora, en tant que lieu civique de libre dia-
logue. Est ne enn lide de rayonner, par-
tir de ce lieu mythique, dans deux directions :
vers des lieux de culture ouverts (au cur de la
mdina) o les pairs acceptent la confrontation
avec les impairs du dbat citoyen, et vers des
lieux de crativit artistique o les uvres sont
rinterprtes laune des arts vivants, urbains,
graphiques, pour leur redonner sens autrement.
Regards croiss
et actes metisss
Cette extension du domaine de la littrature
vers lespace public ne peut aboutir sans un ef-
fort constant pour stimuler diverses approches
et gnrer des dcalages producteurs de sens
novateurs. Do la multiplication des regards
croiss et des actes mtisss, qui commence par
la dclamation bilingue de textes dans le temple
mme de loralit populaire. En marge de ces
performances littraires, des troubadours joue-
ront les rabatteurs de publics et des artistes en
herbe exposeront leurs interprtations visuelles
des uvres lues. Le principe est ici douvrir
lventail des traductions de textes littraires
pour que naissent dautres signes, par limage,
la graphie ou la bande dessine.
Mtissage encore grce une discussion ou-
verte sur des documentaires artistiques portant
sur la cit. On cherchera dpasser les cloison-
nements entre rationalit scientique et sensibi-
lit artistique. Le but est galement de remettre
en cause la suppose certitude des experts sur
la base de lintuition artistique. Dans cet exer-
cice-l, la littrature nest plus apprhende
comme le royaume des signes crits, mais ten-
due lunivers de la cration image.
Les deux autres extensions, moins htrodoxes,
concernent la lecture de textes de thtre, sans
lartefact de la reprsentation, an de faire
deux des objets plus littraires que specta-
culaires, ainsi que la tenue de dbats autour
de questions contemporaines (ex : le Coran
comme uvre ouverte). A chaque fois, le choix
des textes, acteurs, confrenciers et autres ani-
mateurs est dict par une exigence de diversit.
Tout comme le choix dterminant des lieux,
limportance des questions souleves et la so-
brit du dcorum rpondent ce souci per-
manent de rester attentif au sens, ici et main-
tenant. Cest par ces dtours que la littrature
pourrait se sentir tout fait sa place au sein
de lart contemporain.
Littrature
Lextension du domaine de la littrature Driss Ksikes
1
Giorgio Agamben, Quest-ce que le contempo-
rain ? (Paris : Petite Bibliothque Rivages, 2008).
2
Abdelkbir Khatibi, Lart contemporain arabe,
(Paris: Al Manar, 2001).
3
Il est important de rappeler que plusieurs
artistes marocains de renom, dont je citerai titre
dexemples, Farid Belkahia, Nabyl Lahlou, Ahmed
Bouanani et Lahcen Zinoun, ont chacun tent, avec
plus ou moins de russite, de faire de Jamaa El Fna
un lieu de cration contemporaine
77
Littrature
Biographies
des artistes
Latefa Ahrrare
Latefa Ahrrare (ne en 1971), lle des
montagnes du Maroc, est une artiste pluri-
disciplinaire. Diplme de lInstitut suprieur
dart dramatique et danimation culturelle
(ISADAC) en 1995, elle est comdienne, ac-
trice de cinma et la tlvision, metteur en
scne, professeur dart, directrice et animatrice
de festivals, ainsi que co-fon-
datrice du Thtre des amis
en 1996. Son parcours a t
couronn par plusieurs prix
attribus par les plus grands
festivals nationaux et interna-
tionaux.
En tant que metteur en
scne, Latifa Ahrrare sest
distingue au travers du mo-
nodrame dans trois de ses
pices : La dernire nuit, Ca-
pharnam et La Musicienne.
Elle participe la Biennale par la lecture
en arabe dextraits de trois textes littraires :
Makbara de Juan Goytisolo, La Saison de
migration vers le Nord de Tayeb Saleh et Le
Dernier Combat du capitaine Nimat de Mo-
hamed Leftah.
Said Bouftass
N Casablanca en 1963, Said Bouftass
dtient un doctorat en Esthtique, technologie,
cration Artistique et photographie de lUni-
versit Paris 8 (Saint-Denis). En 2012, il a cre
le LCAC, Laboratoire du cinma danimation
de Casablanca au sein de lEcole Suprieure
des Beaux-arts de Casablanca. Il a publi lou-
vrage Le dessin dobservation, mditations
phnomnologiques chez les ditions Alberti,
comme il est le fondateur du Festival de la
Bande dessine de Casablanca.
Literature
Artist
Biographies
Latefa Ahrrare
Latefa Ahrrare (b. 1971) is a multidiscipli-
nary artist who grew up in the mountains of
Morocco. A graduate of the Higher Institute
of Dramatic Arts and Cultural Activity (ISA-
DAC) in 1995, she is an actor (for theater,
cinema, and television), theater director, art
teacher, festival director and presenter, and
also co-founder of Thtre
des amis, established in
1996. She has received sev-
eral awards for her work from
some of the largest national
and international festivals.
As a theater director,
Latifa Ahrrare has gained
recognition for three of her
one-woman shows: La dern-
ire nuit, Capharnam and
La Musicienne.
For the Biennale, she will be giving Arabic
readings of three extracts from literary texts:
Makbara by Juan Goytisolo, Season of Migra-
tion to the North by Tayeb Saleh and Le Dern-
ier Combat du capitaine Nimat by Mohamed
Leftah.
Said Bouftass
Born in Casablanca in 1963, Said Bouf-
tass holds a PhD in Aesthetics, Technology,
Artistic Creation, and Photography from Paris
8 University (Saint-Denis). In 2012, he found-
ed the LCAC, the Casablanca Animated Film
Centre, within the Casablanca Academy of
Fine Arts. His book Le dessin dobservation,
mditations phnomnologiques was pub-
lished by ditions Alberti, and he is the found-
er of the Casablanca Comic Strip Festival.
For the Biennale, Bouftass is leading a
77
Pour la Biennale, il se saisit du
mythique roman de Tayeb Sa-
lih, Une saison de migration
vers le Nord, pour diriger un
atelier de bande dessine, et
en traduire quelques extraits
choisis, avec des tudiants
de lEcole nationale darchi-
tecture o il enseigne, quand
il nest pas occup peindre
des corps. Son intrt premier
tant dallier anatomie et art.
Hamza Boulaiz
N en 1990 Tanger, au Maroc, Hamza
Boulaiz est diplm de lIns-
titut suprieur dart drama-
tique et danimation culturelle
au Maroc en 2013. Il obtient
le grand prix du Thtre na-
tional de la jeunesse au Ma-
roc en 2008, ainsi que le prix
du meilleur rle et auteur du
mme festival. Boulaiz est di-
recteur de la troupe Spectacle
pour tous et du programme
Aji Tfaraj de Tanger, quil a
cr. Il est metteur en scne associ au sein des
troupes Arts Academy et DABATEATR. Il est
considr comme lun des jeunes metteurs en
scne les plus prometteurs. Il sintresse beau-
coup au corps arabe en gnral, et revendique
sa libration avec audace.
Boulaiz prsente la Biennale une mise en
espace du texte de Jaouad Essouanin, crit en
rsidence Royal Court theatre Londres,
Hassan Lekllichs. Cette lecture est une forme
lgre dune mise en scne dj effectue par le
mme metteur en scne du texte, par ailleurs
mont lanne dernire par une troupe alle-
mande Berlin.
Acha El Beloui
Ne en 1984 Casablanca, Acha El Beloui
est architecte de formation. Elle sest engage
en faveur de la conservation du patrimoine au
travers de sa contribution associative, avant
Littrature
comic strip workshop inspired
by Tayeb Salihs mythical
novel Season of Migration to
the North, translating a few
chosen extracts with students
from the National School of
Architecture, where he teach-
es when not busy painting.
His primary interest is to com-
bine anatomy and art.
Hamza Boulaiz
Born in 1990 in Tangier, Hamza Boulaiz
graduated from the Institut
suprieur dart dramatique
et danimation culturelle in
2013. At the 2008 Moroc-
co National Youth Theatre
he was awarded the grand
prize, as well as the prizes
for best actor and best au-
thor. Boulaiz is the director
of the Spectacle Pour Tous
troupe and of the Aji Tfaraj
program in Tangier, which he
founded. He is an associated director for the
Arts Academy and DABATEATR troupes. He is
considered one of the most promising young
theater directors. He is very interested in the
Arab body in general, and calls audaciously
for its liberation.
At the Biennale, Boulaiz is staging a text
by Jaouad Essouanin entitled Hassan Leklli-
chs, written during Essouanins residency at
the Royal Court Theatre in London. This read-
ing is a simplied version of a staging of the
text by the same director, performed last year
by a German troupe in Berlin.
Acha El Beloui
Acha El Beloui, born in 1984 in Casablan-
ca, is an architect by education. She worked
with associations to promote heritage preser-
vation before going to Norway and South Af-
Literature
Artist Biographies
79
Littrature
de rejoindre la Norvge et
lAfrique du Sud pour une
exprience professionnelle
auprs de lUNESCO. Pas-
sionne de graphisme, de
photographie et dillustra-
tion, elle sest consacre son
hobby et en a fait son mtier.
Aujourdhui installe au Ma-
roc, Acha est designer gra-
phique indpendante et vient
de lancer sa marque 9o9, dont le nom se lit en
arabe et en franais.
Partant dune approche rsolument
contemporaine, travaillant sur lurbanisme et
le mtissage, elle dirige, pour la section litt-
raire de la Biennale, un atelier dart graphique
qui interprte luvre de lcrivain espagnol
install Marrakech, Juan Goytisolo, Mak-
bara, partir dun regard post-moderne qui
prne une lecture ouverte.
Ali Essa
N au Maroc en 1963, Ali Essa a tudi
la psychologie en France puis sest dirig vers
le cinma documentaire et le cinma dart et
essai. Il ralise, entre autres, Gnral, nous
voil, Le Silence des champs de betteraves,
Ouarzazate Movie et Shikhats Blues, qui ont
t slectionns et prims dans divers festivals
du circuit international du ci-
nma.
De retour au Maroc, il
occupe le poste de directeur
artistique de la Socit na-
tionale de radiodiffusion et
tlvision (SNRT) durant
deux ans, et anime plusieurs
ateliers dcriture de lms do-
cumentaires. Commissionne
par la 10
me
Biennale dArt de
Sharjah, Wanted, sa dernire
production, a t slectionne dans diverses
manifestations artistiques travers le monde.
Cest ce dernier documentaire quil pr-
sente la Biennale de Marrakech, avec la par-
ticipation de critiques aguerris de la culture et
Literature
Artist Biographies
rica to gain professional ex-
perience with UNESCO. Her
passion for graphic design,
photography, and illustration
led her to turn these hobbies
into a career. Acha currently
lives in Morocco, where she
works as an independent
graphic designer. She recent-
ly launched her own brand,
9o9, a name that can be
read in Arabic and in French.
Her approach is resolutely contemporary
and focuses on urban planning and the mixing
of cultures. For the literary section of the Bien-
nale, she is directing a workshop on graph-
ic art, interpreting Marrakech-based Spanish
author Juan Goytisolos book Makbara from
a postmodern perspective that encourages an
open reading.
Ali Essa
Born in Morocco in 1963, Ali Essa
studied psychology in France before moving
toward documentary and art-house cinema.
Among other lms, he has directed Gnral,
nous voil (General, Here We Come!), Le Si-
lence des champs de betteraves (The Silence
of the Beet Fields), Ouarzazate Movie, and
Shikhats Blues, which were
ofcial selections and award
winners at various festivals
on the international cinema
circuit.
Since returning to Moroc-
co in 2002, he has served as
artistic director at the Socit
nationale de radiodiffusion
et tlvision (SNRT) for two
years and led several doc-
umentary lm-writing work-
shops. His most recent production, Wanted,
was commissioned by Sharjah Biennale 10
and has been selected by various art events
worldwide.
At the Marrakech Biennale Essa, with
79
de lart, autour de la question : que faire des
hritages politiques dans lart contemporain ?
Wanted apporte quelques pistes de rponses,
travers le rapport aux archives tlvisuelles
et cinmatographiques, la question du tmoi-
gnage et bien dautres artfacts quil manipule
avec un souci dquilibriste, entre cohrence de
luvre et force du propos.
Simohammed Fettaka
N en 1981, Simohammed Fettaka est un
artiste pluridisciplinaire bas Paris et Tanger.
Fondateur du festival Cinma Nachia Tanger,
il ralise des documentaires
ainsi que des vidos expri-
mentales qui questionnent, de
manire rcurrente, les rap-
ports entre reprsentation,
individualit et politique.
En parallle de son travail
de vidaste, il a dvelopp
des sries photographiques,
des collages, des installations
ainsi que des pices sonores,
rgulirement exposes en
France et linternational. Ses travaux ont t
prsents dans de nombreuses expositions col-
lectives parmi lesquelles : Muhka (Anvers), le
centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Old Truman
Brewery (Londres), et la galerie Dominique
Fiat avec CulturesInterface (Paris). Actuelle-
ment, il participe au programme dexprimen-
tation en art et politique lInstitut dtudes
politiques de Paris.
A la Biennale, Fettaka dirige un atelier de
cration autour du roman posthume de Mo-
hamed Leftah, Le dernier combat du capitaine
Nimat, censur au Maroc puis couronn par
le prix de la Mamounia (2011). Fettaka vient
galement prsenter, lors dun dialogue crois
avec des politologues et sociologues, son lm
documentaire, Le vote, une ethnographie du
dsordre lectoral Tanger durant la cam-
pagne lectorale de 2007.
Littrature
the participation of seasoned art and culture
critics, presents his latest documentary, which
focuses on the question, what can contempo-
rary art do with political heritage? Wanted
provides several clues through the relationship
between TV and cinema archives, the question
of testimony, and many other artifacts that he
manipulates with an eye to maintaining a bal-
ance between the coherence of the work and
the power of the message.
Simohammed Fettaka
Born in 1981, Simohammed Fettaka is
a multidisciplinary artist based in Paris and
Tangier. Founder of the Cinema Nachia fes-
tival in Tangier, he has direct-
ed documentaries and experi-
mental videos that repeatedly
consider questions about the
relationships between rep-
resentation, individuality, and
politics.
Alongside his work as a
videographer, he has devel-
oped photographic series,
collages, installations, and
sound pieces, which are reg-
ularly exhibited in France and internationally.
His works have appeared in several group
exhibitions, among them at Muhka (Anvers),
Pompidou Center (Paris), Old Truman Brewery
(London), and Dominique Fiat Gallery with
CulturesInterface (Paris). He is currently taking
part in an art and politics experimentation pro-
gram at Sciences Po in Paris.
At the Biennale, Fettaka is leading an art
workshop revolving around Mohamed Leftahs
posthumous novel Le dernier combat du cap-
itaine Nimat, which was banned in Moroc-
co and later awarded the Mamounia Prize
(2011). On the occasion of a dialogue with
political scientists and sociologists, Fettaka will
also screen his documentary lm Le vote, an
ethnography of the electoral disorder in Tangi-
er during the 2007 election campaign.
Literature
Artist Biographies
81
Littrature
Sophia Hadi
Nabyl Lahlou retrace ainsi la riche biogra-
phie de Sophia Hadi : Mettre en scne So-
phia Hadi au thtre est un bonheur car cest
elle qui nourrit mon imaginaire par le doute
qui lhabite pendant les rptitions. Quant au
cinma, jamais je ne serais all jusquau bout
de mes lms, sans son soutien, en vraie assis-
tante, tous les niveaux .
Au cinma, Hadi a jou les rles princi-
paux fminins dans six longs mtrages, de
Lne qui brait (1983), Regarde le roi dans
la lune (2012). Au thtre, elle a interprt les
rles principaux dans une dizaine de pices
de thtre dont Ophlie nest pas morte, En
Attendant Godot, Le Procs
de Socrate. Elle demeure
pour moi la magistrale et
magnique Antigone de Jean
Anouilh, ltonnant et puis-
sant Imbrator Schrischmatury
et le troublant Clamence dans
La Chute dAlbert Camus ,
explique Nabyl Lahlou.
Hadi participe la Biennale
par la lecture, en franais,
dextraits de deux textes lit-
traires : La Saison de migration vers le Nord
de Tayeb Saleh et Le Dernier Combat du capi-
taine Nimat de Mohamed Leftah.
Imane Zerouali
Depuis lge de 18 ans, Imane Zerouali (ne en
1970) se rend rituellement au Festival dAvi-
gnon, dabord dans le cadre des rencontres in-
ternationales organises par les CEMEA, puis
dans le cadre des ateliers de pratique thtrale,
an dapprendre, par lmerveillement, la pra-
tique et la critique, aller au-del du convenu.
Ds 1988, elle sest distingue dans les festivals
de thtre universitaire, non seulement comme
comdienne prime mais galement comme
adaptatrice, en Darija, de textes majeurs
comme Mre Courage de Bertold Brecht ou Ti
Jeans and his brothers de Derek Walcott.
Dans lintervalle, multipliant les stages de
perfectionnement, assistant des master class
Literature
Artist Biographies
Sophia Hadi
Looking back at Sophia Hadis rich life,
Nabyl Lahlou has said that directing her in the
theater is a pleasure because shes the one
who feeds my imagination through the doubts
that haunt her during rehearsals. As for cin-
ema, I would never have nished any of my
lms without her support, as a true assistant,
at every level.
In cinema, Hadi has played female lead
roles in six feature lms, from Lne qui brait
(1983) to Regarde le roi dans la lune (2012).
In the theater, she has played lead roles in
ten plays, including Ophelia is Not Dead,
Waiting for Godot, and The Trial of Socrates.
Lahlou explains, To me she
will always be the masterful
and magnicent Antigone
by Jean Anouilh, the stun-
ning and powerful Imbrator
Schrischmatury and the trou-
blilng Clamence in The Fall
by Albert Camus.
Hadi is participating in
the Biennale by reading ex-
tracts from two literary texts in
French: Season of Migration
to the North by Tayeb Saleh and Le Dernier
Combat du capitaine Nimat by Mohamed Lef-
tah.
Imane Zerouali
Since the age of 18, Imane Zerouali (b.
1970) has made it a ritual to attend the Av-
ignon Festival, initially in the context of inter-
national meetings organized by the CEMEA,
then in the context of practical theater work-
shops, in order to learnthrough practice,
criticism, and a sense of wonderhow to go
beyond convention. In 1988 she started gain-
ing recognition in university theater festivals,
not only as an award-winning actress but also
for her Darija adaptations of major texts like
Mother Courage by Bertold Brecht and Ti-Jean
and His Brothers by Derek Walcott.
Since then, by taking several advanced
courses, attending very informative master
81
trs formatrices et jouant sous la direction de
metteurs en scne aux visions diverses, elle a
su afner son style, sinspirant entre autres de
lEspace Vide de Peter Brook ainsi que de la
mmoire motionnelle de Stanislavsky.
Elle a patiemment construit son projet
dcole de thtre, en initiant de jeunes com-
diens et animateurs au mtier de pdagogues
de lart, ayant le souci de transmettre les tech-
niques du jeu thtral aux plus jeunes. Elle
a, au demeurant, rgulirement mont des
spectacles surprenants comme Vagues lme
(2000), Le Saint des incertains (2002), Para-
dise Blues (2005), Goullou ! (2011) avec sa
troupe Arts Academy.
A la Biennale, Zerouali
prsente une lecture esthti-
quement sobre de la pice de
thtre Incendies de Wajdi
Mouawad.
Littrature
classes, and acting under directors with di-
verse visions, she has succeeded in rening
her style, and has taken inspiration from such
works as The Empty Space by Peter Brook and
Stanislavskys moving memoir.
With a desire to transmit theater-acting
techniques to the very young, Zerouali pa-
tiently built her own theater school project,
introducing young actors and presenters to the
profession of art teacher. She has also regu-
larly produced surprising shows like Vagues
lme (2000), Le Saint des incertains (2002),
Paradise Blues (2005), and Goullou !
(2011) with her troupe Arts Academy.
For the Biennale, Zerouali presents an aes-
thetically sober reading of
the play Incendies by Wajdi
Mouawad.
Literature
Artist Biographies
82 83
Presenting
Artwork in
Public
Spaces
Khalid Tamer
Artist
Biographies
Prsentation
des uvres au
sein des espaces
publics
Khalid Tamer
Biographies
des artistes
Performing
Arts
Arts
Vivants
85
Performing Arts
Presenting Artwork
in Public Spaces
Khalid Tamer, Performing Arts Curator
Everywhere in the world, including Morocco, the question
of art in public spaces is generating new interest. It arises in
contexts where aggressive, unrestricted urbanizationwild in
some areasis causing cities to lose their historic, cultural, and
architectural identities, as well as their capacity to create social
ties.
A magical place for sociability, the future of humanity:
these are the words used by writers in love with Marrakech
who, three decades ago, had already recognized the Ochre
Citys ability to position itself at the vanguard of creation, be-
cause for several centuries it had already been at the cutting
edge of another way of living together in public spaces.
WHERE ARE WE NOW? Marrakech Biennale 5 and Awalnart
are joining forces to reexamine this question. To offer a new
experience of the city and its public spaces to inhabitants,
spectators, and passersby through an open, contemplative,
participatory process. Contemporary art is shared, stimulates
imagination and thought, and involves the public in the indi-
vidual and collective production of a new aesthetic born of the
intimate and sensory experience of a public space invested
with new charm and meaning.
85
Arts Vivants
Prsentation des uvres
au sein des espaces publics
Khalid Tamer, Commissaire Arts Vivants
Partout dans le monde, y compris au Maroc, la question de lart
au sein de lespace public suscite de nouveaux intrts. Celle-
ci sinscrit dans des contextes o lurbanisation agressive, sans
limite, parfois sauvage dans certains endroits, fait perdre aux
villes leurs identits historique, culturelle, architecturale autant
que leur capacit gnrer du lien social.
Lieu magique de sociabilit , avenir de lhumanit , tels
sont les mots employs par des crivains amoureux de Mar-
rakech qui, il y a trois dcennies dj, dcelrent la capacit de
la ville ocre se positionner lavant-garde de la cration, parce
quelle tait dj, depuis plusieurs sicles, la pointe dune
autre manire de vivre ensemble dans les espaces publics.
O SOMMES-NOUS MAINTENANT ?, Marrakech Biennale
5 et Awalnart sassocient an de renouveler ce questionnement.
Pour offrir aux habitants, passants et spectateurs une nouvelle
exprience de la ville et de ses espaces publics travers un par-
cours libre, contemplatif et participatif. Lart contemporain se
partage, stimule limagination et la rexion, associant les pu-
blics la fabrication, individuelle et collective, dune esthtique
nouvelle, ne de lexprience intime et sensorielle de lespace pu-
blic renchant et porteur de sens nouveau.
87
Arts Vivants
Biographies
des artistes
Philippe Allard et MBarek Bouhchichi
Fort est un lieu de mditation cubique
compos de 650 palettes de bois recycl,
reprsentant, avec ses quatre points cardinaux,
la rencontre et la connexion des territoires du
Canada. Prsent au festival dart du Canal Ri-
deau 2011 Ottawa, Fort est aussi, plus pe-
tite chelle, ce quelle tait avant que ce canal
soit creus : une fort.
Cette installation impro-
bable met en valeur la fonc-
tion initiale de la palette, qui
est de supporter. Objet lap-
parence banale, elle est pour-
tant essentielle partout : sans
elle il serait difcile de trans-
porter une multitude dobjets
en grande quantit. Sous le
regard de lartiste visuel Phi-
lippe Allard, accompagn de
MBarek Bouhchichi, la palette se supporte
elle-mme, et ltre la lumire comme travers
les branches dun arbre, revenu sa source
symboliquement.
Issu de la sculpture monumentale in situ,
lart de Philippe Allard aborde principalement
linstallation. Sa demarche sinspire de larte
povera ; il rcupre des matriaux et objets
trouvs, accessibles en grande quantit. Il sin-
tresse limpact des activits humaines sur
leur environnement. En ce sens, il tudie une
socit de consommation qui rejette lusure
et craint le passage du temps ainsi que les
consquences engendres par ses habitudes de
consommation. En dtournant les fonctions
premires des matriaux rcuprs, lartiste
cherche en prolonger le sens dans un sys-
tme, celui de lart en loccurrence, auxquels
ils ntaient pas destins.
En utilisant diffrents mdiums, peinture,
Performing Arts
Artist
Biographies
Philippe Allard and MBarek Bouhchichi
Fort (Forest) is a cubic space for medi-
tation composed of 650 palettes of recycled
wood, its four cardinal points representing the
meeting of Canadian territories. Presented at
the 2011 Rideau Canal art festival in Ottawa,
Fort is also a smaller-scale version of what
existed before the canal was dug: a forest.
This unlikely installation
highlights the primary func-
tion of the palette, which is to
support. At rst a seemingly
banal object, it is neverthe-
less essential everywhere:
without the palette it would
be difcult to transport many
objects in mass quantity. In
artist Philippe Allards and
MBarek Bouhchichis vision,
the palette supports itself, l-
tering light as if through the branches of a tree,
symbolically returned to its source.
Deriving from monumental site-specic
sculpture, Philippe Allards art principally deals
with installation. His approach is inspired by
Arte Povera; he recuperates found objects and
materials accessible in large quantities. He is
interested in the impact of human activities on
their environments. In this way he examines a
consumer culture that rejects the wear-and-tear
of material goods and fears the passage of
time as much as the consequences of its con-
sumption habits. By redirecting the primary
functions of recuperated materials, the artist
repurposes their meaning for a second-hand
art for which they were never destined.
Using different media, including paint-
ing, three-dimensional space, and drawing,
among others, MBarek Bouhchichi disman-
tles standard narratives and reimagines them
volume ou dessin, MBarek Bouhchichi d-
monte le rcit r-imagin envers des univers
et des questions qui linterpellent. Il place ses
uvres la croise de lesthtique, du pictural
singulier, du social, en explorant des champs
dassociations possibles comme possibilits de
r-criture personnelle. La dcouverte dautres
champs imaginaires est une question impra-
tive dans sa dmarche artistique.
Bouhchichi sest forg, dune exposition
lautre, une identit plastique consciente. Pour
avoir expos dans diffrentes galeries, tant au
Maroc qu lextrieur, son travail plastique
est loin dappartenir une seule culture, lar-
tiste se voulant lui-mme un tre collectif. Il ne
peut ainsi aflier son uvre
une seule culture qui serait
exclusive des autres cultures,
auxquelles lartiste se dit re-
devable.
Arts Vivants
in the context of questions that compel him.
He places his works at the intersection of the
aesthetic, of a singular pictorial practice, and
of the social, exploring potential interstices as
means of re-writing the self. The discovery of
imaginary elds is an urgent question in his
artistic process.
Bouchichi has forged an artistic identity
of social consciousness across his exhibitions.
Although he has shown in various galleries,
as much in Morocco as abroad, his work is
far from belonging to one sole culture; instead
the artist sees himself as a collective individ-
ual. He does not afliate his work with one
sole culture at the exclusion of others to which
the artist considers himself in-
debted.
Performing Arts
Artist Biographies
87
89
Arts Vivants
Sandrine Dole
LOasis de Sandrine Dole est un lot de
bancs publics vgtaliss. Elle offre aux pas-
sants un moment de dtente, dintimit, de
nature, de posie, et de fracheur au milieu du
tumulte urbain. Limplantation est une perfor-
mance, grce lintervention dun artiste du
spectacle sur un fond sonore oasien.
Lorsque lOasis disparat, son souvenir in-
vite les autorits locales revisiter lamnage-
ment du site en particulier, et de lespace public
en gnral, long terme.
LOasis propose dexplorer une autre
forme damnagement que celui couramment
pratiqu au Maroc, en prenant en compte les
pratiques sociales locales.
Luvre permet dinteragir
avec le site, sans le rduire
une disposition rectiligne sys-
tmatique, exploitant la v-
gtation au-del de sa simple
fonction dcorative.
Dole exerce dans une lo-
gique de dveloppement du-
rable quelle a nomme
design in situ . Elle rayonne
depuis 1999 en Afrique,
dabord partir du Cameroun, puis du Maroc
o elle sest installe en 2006. Elle se nourrit
des coutumes ancestrales, mais aussi des mou-
vances actuelles, sans pour autant oublier les
enjeux environnementaux et les contraintes
conomiques. Spcialise en artisanat, elle ex-
plore ce secteur avec une curiosit insatiable et
une rigueur toute industrielle. Elle fait feu de
tout bois, des matires nobles aux matriaux
recycls : cramique, cuir, caoutchouc, metal
ou bres. Elle met son grain de sel partout :
objets de ville, de jardin, de maison, de mode
ou de mmoire. Elle tisse le lien avec dautres
disciplines cratives : architecture, paysagisme,
installation, photographie, vido, graphisme et
arts de rue.
Performing Arts
Artist Biographies
Sandrine Dole
Sandrine Doles Oasis is a little island of
public benches that have been planted with
vegetation. It offers passersby a moment of
relaxation, intimacy, nature, poetry, and fresh-
ness amid urban tumult. The vegetal planting
is a performative act, undertaken by an art-
ist, accompanied by an oasis-like sound in
the background. When Oasis disappears, its
memory will invite local authorities to revisit
the long-term planning of this particular site,
and of public space in general.
Oasis suggests the exploration of an alter-
nate form of city planning than that currently
practiced in Morocco, which would take into
consideration local, social
practices. The work allows
public interaction with the
site, without reducing it to a
systematic, rectilinear layout,
exploiting vegetation beyond
its simple decorative function.
Dole practices, within
the context of sustainable
development, what she calls
design in situ. Since 1999
she has been gaining visibil-
ity in Africa, rst in Cameroon, and then in
Morocco, where she has been based since
2006. She draws on ancestral traditions as
well as contemporary sources, while keeping
sight of environmental stakes and economic
constraints. An arts and crafts specialist, she
explores this area with insatiable curiosity and
industrial rigor. She uses all the resources at
her disposal, from luxury to recycled materi-
als, including ceramics, leather, rubber, metal,
and ber. She intervenes everywhere: the city,
the garden, the home, fashion, and memory;
she forges links to other creative disciplines:
architecture, landscape, installation, pho-
tography, video, graphic art, and street art.
89
Les Scotcheurs clairs
Scotchage sauvage est une performance
intime dans lespace public qui propose aux
passants dabandonner dans le paysage une
empreinte de leur corps, telle une chrysalide.
Sculpteurs du monde entier, les scotcheurs
clairs parlent le polop et partagent cette
mme obsession : traquer lintime et le rvler.
Ce commando de sculpteurs arpente la ville,
sinstalle dans un jardin ou dans un bar, laf-
ft de corps scotcher.
Le procd des scotcheurs consiste ger
les passants, en ralisant une empreinte de leur
corps en direct. La chrysalide reste ainsi sai-
sie dans le paysage du mobilier urbain. Puis,
une une, les chrysalides ap-
paraissent comme un peuple
trange, travers par la lu-
mire en mouvement : cest
linstallation lumineuse. A la
tombe de la nuit, les mues
des passants reprennent vie
lespace dun instant lors de
lillumination, laquelle le
public est invit.
Systmes K Etudes et Me-
sures Ephmres consiste en
une quipe de comdiens, plasticiens, scno-
graphes, qui crent partir dun environne-
ment, intrieur ou extrieur, public ou priv.
Un Collectif de thtre tout terrain, qui
piste lintime dans lespace public, prsente
des performances issues dune dmarche sin-
gulire dcriture, impliquant les spectateurs
dans une dynamique originale : ses comdiens
rinventent la relation au public dans lespace.
Arts Vivants
Les Scotchers clairs
Scotchage Sauvage (Savage Taping) is an
intimate performance in public space that asks
passersby to leave an imprint of their body in
the landscape, like a chrysalis. The Scotchers,
sculptors from around the world, speak pol-
op and share a common obsession: to track
and reveal the intimate. This commando unit
combs the city, installing itself in a garden or a
bar, lying in wait for bodies to tape.
The tapers process consists of freezing
passersby, by wrapping voluntary participants
in many layers of ordinary plastic packing
tape, forming a shell. This chrysalis remains
captured in the landscape of urban forms.
Then, one by one, the chrys-
alises appear like a strange
people, reecting the move-
ment of light in a luminous
installation. At nightfall, the
molted shells of the passersby
come back to life momentar-
ily during an illumination to
which the public is invited.
Systemes K Etudes et
Mesures Ephmres is a team
of actors, artists, and scenog-
raphers who create based on an environment,
interior or exterior, public or private.
The Collectif de Thtre Tout Terrain
(All-Terrain Theater Collective) which tracks the
intimate in public space, presents performanc-
es that emerge from a specic writing process,
one that involves spectators in the generative
dynamic: the actors reinvent the relationship to
the audience in public space.
Performing Arts
Artist Biographies
90 91
Reinventing the
Boundaries of
Images
Jamal Abdennassar
Artist
Biographies
+
Carte Blanche at
the Cinmathque de Tanger
Malika Chaghal
R-inventer les
territoires de
limage
Jamal Abdennassar
Biographies
des artistes
+
Carte Blanche
la Cinmathque de Tanger
Malika Chaghal
Cinema &
Video
Cinma &
Vido
93
Cinema & Video
Reinventing
the Boundaries of Images
Jamal Abdennassar, Cinema & Video Curator
At the heart of the question, Where are we? lies a WHERE,
the designation of a space. A space of image modernization
that is creative and geographical, rendering it a contemporary
territory for re-creation. Without doubt, this aspect of territory
has inuenced the selection of visual works presented at Mar-
rakech Biennale 5.
Art, as an innovative offering, seeks to go beyond the limits of
concepts at the boundaries of identity and universality. At the
core of this process, artists are confronted by the question of
territory, be it geographical or cultural territory, the territory of
identity, or even that of a vision projected on the world around
us.
Territory thus becomes an aid to innovation, the consciousness
of which nds its full meaning at the heart of video. Video is a
space belonging to the artist, which he or she connects to his
or her immediate environment, to the designated environment,
in order to extract the difference from it. This compels artists to
assimilate and learn the prevailing language, creating a territo-
ry in which they reinvent themselves.
Image territories remain numerous and unlimited, to the point
that they become a part of works of art. The dialogical space
is rooted in these territories in such a way that it becomes a
bearer of signiers in the world of contemporary art.
The relationship of artists to their identities, or to their culture,
raises the question of self-narration and freedom of interpre-
tation. Individualities and visions become an offering, raising
unavoidable questions about the perspectives of the images
and other creations within their geographical space.
93
Cinma & Vido
R-inventer
les territoires de limage
Jamal Abdennassar, Commissaire Cinma & Vido
Au cur de la question O sommes-nous ? ressort la ques-
tion du O dsignant un espace. Un espace cratif et gogra-
phique de lactualisation de limage. Cet espace devient alors
un territoire contemporain de re-cration. Cest, sans conteste,
cet aspect du territoire qui guide le choix des uvres visuelles
prsentes cette Biennale de Marrakech 5.
Lart, en tant que proposition novatrice, veut franchir les li-
mites des concepts aux frontires de lidentitaire et luniversel.
Au cur de cette dmarche, la question du territoire simpose
aux artistes, quil soit gographique, identitaire, culturel, ou en-
core projection dune vision sur le monde qui nous entoure.
Le territoire devient ainsi support dinnovation. Cette prise de
conscience du territoire prend tout son sens au cur de la vido.
Elle constitue un espace propre lartiste li son environne-
ment immdiat, lenvironnement dsign, pour en extraire la
distinction. Ceci poussant les artistes assimiler et apprendre
le langage dominant, crant ainsi un territoire dans lequel ils se
rinventent.
Les territoires de limage restent nombreux et illimits, jusqu
prendre part dans luvre artistique. Ds lors, lespace de dia-
logue retrouve son enracinement dans ces territoires, de manire
devenir porteur de signiant dans le monde de lart contem-
porain.
Le rapport des artistes leurs identits, ou encore leur culture,
pose la question de la narration de soi et la libert de linterpr-
tation. Individualits et visions deviennent ds lors une propo-
sition, un questionnement invitable autour des perspectives de
la cration et de limage au sein de leur espace gographique.
95
Mention of the Jury at the Clermont-Ferrand
Festival (the most important short lm festival
at the international level)his work is now dis-
tributed in France on DVD by FNAC. He has
since been working on feature-length projects
with Paris-based production companies.
Amir Rouani
Amir Rouani, 30, is an artistic director
working in advertising. He rst got his hands
on a camera at the age of 16, and it has
since become his third eye. Rouani made his
debut working for Moroccan TV, initially on
the sports channel and then directing commer-
cials, as well as television programs and mi-
ni-series. Jezebel, his rst short lm, convinced
him to make cinema his life, his way of life,
his religion, his inspiration, his ideal, and his
absolute.
It is this lm that Rouani presents at the Bi-
ennale. It is the story of Malik and Rda, life-
time friends. Malik has become a doctor and
married Nadia, a mutual friend, while Rda is
now a night owl prey to various vices. Theirs
is a triangular relationship: friendly, intimate
but also slightly unnerving for Malik. To lay his
doubts to rest, he must enlist the help of Maya
whose methods prove to be incisive. Friend-
ship and betrayal give rise to revenge.
Cinema & Video
Artist
Biographies
Cinema
Hicham Ayouch
Born in 1976 in Paris, Hicham Ayouch
began his career as a journalist, and then
studied lmmaking at lcole des Gobelins,
Paris. He directed various corporate and
promotional lms before beginning to write
screenplays. In 2005 he created the documen-
tary Les Reines du roi (The Kings Queens) on
the status of women in Morocco, and in 2006
Poussires dange (Angel Dust) on mentally
handicapped athletes, before directing his de-
but feature-length, ctional lm Les Artes du
cur (Edges of the Heart). His second feature
lm, Fissures (2008) was presented at several
festivals, before being shown at MoMA, New
York and at Tate Modern, London. He has just
nished directing his third feature lm, Fivres
(Fever), which will be released in France in
2014.
For the Biennale, Ayouch presents Fissures.
The lm is set in Tangier, a mysterious and be-
witching city where three drifters in search of
love and freedom meet and fall in love: Ab-
delsellem, a broken man fresh out of prison;
Noureddine, his best friend; and Marcela, a
capricious, excessive, suicidal Brazilian.
Ismal El Iraki
Born in Rabat in 1983, Ismal El Iraki
enrolled in the cole nationale suprieure de
cinma La Fmis in 2004, after studying phi-
losophy and lm theory at the Sorbonne. He
was the rst Moroccan student to enroll in the
directing department of the prestigious Paris-
ian school, and his short and feature-length
lms retain this personal connection to Moroc-
can soil. As a result of the success of his short
lmsCarcass received plaudits at Cannes
and Montreal, and Harash was awarded the
prizes for Breakthrough Talent and Special
95
mondial), ses travaux sont diffuss en DVD en
France par la FNAC. Il dveloppe depuis ses
projets de longs-mtrages avec des socits de
production parisiennes.
Amir Rouani
Amir Rouani, 30 ans, est un directeur ar-
tistique en publicit. La camra sest impose
lui lge de 16 ans ; elle est devenue de-
puis son troisime il. Il dbute alors par un
passage la tlvision marocaine, dabord sur
la chane sportive puis dans la ralisation de
spots publicitaires et missions de tlvision ou
encore de mini-sries. Jezebel est son premier
court-mtrage, do sa dcision de faire du ci-
nma sa vie, son mode de vie, sa religion, son
inspiration, son idal et son absolu.
Lors de la Biennale, il prsente ce lm, his-
toire de Malik et Rda, amis depuis toujours.
Le premier est devenu mdecin et sest mari
Nadia, une amie commune, alors que le se-
cond est devenu un oiseau de nuit aux vices
multiples. La relation est triangulaire, amicale,
intime mais lgrement sournoise aux yeux de
Malik. Pour couper court ses doutes, celui-ci
fera appel Maya dont les mthodes savrent
tranchantes. Amiti et trahison susciteront la
vengeance.
Cinma & Vido
Biographies
des artistes
Cinma
Hicham Ayouch
N en 1976 Paris, il commence sa car-
rire en tant que journaliste, puis se forme la
prise de vue lcole des Gobelins, Paris. Il r-
alise ensuite de nombreux lms institutionnels
et publicitaires avant de se lancer dans lcri-
ture de scnarios. En 2005, il tourne le lm
documentaire Les Reines du roi (2005) sur le
statut de la femme au Maroc, puis Poussires
dange (2006) sur des sportifs handicaps men-
taux. Puis il crit et ralise son premier long
mtrage de ction, Les Artes du cur. Son
deuxime long-mtrage, Fissures (2008), est
prsent dans de nombreux festivals, avant
dtre projet au MOMA de New-York et
la Tate Modern de Londres. Il vient de raliser
son troisime long-mtrage, Fivres, qui sorti-
ra en France en 2014.
Pendant la Biennale, Ayouch prsente Fis-
sures. Le lm se droule Tanger, ville myst-
rieuse et magique o trois marginaux en qute
damour et de libert vont se rencontrer et sai-
mer : Abdelsellem, un homme bris qui sort
de prison, Noureddine, son meilleur ami, et
Marcela, une Brsilienne fantasque, excessive
et suicidaire.
Ismal El Iraki
N Rabat en 1983, Ismal El Iraki intgre
lcole nationale suprieure de cinma La F-
mis en 2004, aprs des tudes de philosophie
et de thorie du cinma la Sorbonne. Premier
tudiant marocain intgrer la section rali-
sation de la prestigieuse cole parisienne, ses
lms sont toujours lis au sol marocain. Grce
au succs de ses courts-mtrages, Carcasse,
prim Cannes et Montral, et Harash, prix
Attention talent et mention spciale du jury
au Festival de Clermont-Ferrand (le plus im-
portant festival de courts-mtrages au niveau
97
Soukeina Hachem
Soukeina Hachem is an interior architect and
designer born and raised in Casablanca. She
says, Inspired by the detail and authenticity
of the present moment, I like to believe that
nothing is ordinary and that the essential is
often perceived by means other than sight.
For the Biennale, Hachem presents the vid-
eo Perception. Does the color red exist? This
work casts doubt on reality and its multiple
facets, and on the subjective nature of the in-
dividual relative to his or her perception. We
nd ourselves in a world where the color red
is inexistent, unknown, unnoticed, somewhere
between dream and reality.
Yasmine Hajji
Born in Paris to a French mother and Mo-
roccan father, Yasmine Hajji quickly became
interested in images. Having studied lm and
gained experience in video editing, she now
creates short videos and video installations for
Moroccan art groups. Her video Skin, shown
at the exhibition Corps et gure du corps at
Socit Gnral and the Cannes Film Art Fes-
tival, considers the limits of our relationship to
the bodies of others. Another work, Matesha
revolution, represents society by a series of g-
ures carrying the same message of anger.
Hajji is currently working on Damage
House, an installation project presenting the
ephemeral human body. At the Biennale, she
presents this video installation, which takes the
form of multiple projections in a squalid, un-
occupied apartment block. The images reect
each other insofar as they are driven by the
same goal: that of showing the daily lives of
various people over a given period of time;
lives that are chosen, and enacted, by these
people. Nevertheless, the images remain in-
Cinema & Video
Artist Biographies
Video
Hassan Darsi
Hassan Darsis art, developed out of mul-
tiple processes and media, is strongly shaped
by his experience, his daily life, and his envi-
ronment. It often takes the form of participa-
tory projects. Darsi founded La Source du Lion
(Source of the Lion) atelier in Casablanca in
1995. In 1999 he began working with gild-
ing, his favorite material being a golden adhe-
sive that he uses to cover objectsdolls, gar-
den chairs, television sets, tanks, teethbut
also public spaces, like the facade of a Casa-
blanca art gallery (2007), the concrete blocks
of the pier in Tenerifes Guia de Isora (2008),
and those of the jetty in the port of Marseille
(2012). In 2001, he began the series Portraits
de famille (Family Portraits, 20012009), ask-
ing the inhabitants of eight cities across the
world to pose in his mobile studio. A project
he initiated in Hermitage Park in Casablanca
(20022008), which comprised of a series of
artistic bridges, marked the beginning of a
sequence of activity and works linked to ques-
tions about the city, architecture, and public
space, including Le lion se meurt (Death of the
Lion), Le passage de la modernit (The Pas-
sage of Modernity), Le square den bas (The
Square Downstairs), Point zro (Zero Point), Le
toit du monde (The Roof of the World), and
Chantiers en or (Golden Worksites).
Parallel to these projects, Darsi has tak-
en part in numerous international exhibitions
in art centers, museums, and biennales. His
work has been the subject of diverse studies
and publications across the globe, and is dis-
played in various public and private collec-
tions in Morocco and abroad. His Le Projet de
la Maquette (Maquette Project) was acquired
recently by the Centre Georges Pompidou,
Paris.
97
Soukeina Hachem
Architecte dintrieur et designer, Soukei-
na Hachem est ne et a grandi Casablanca.
Inspire par le dtail et lauthenticit de lins-
tant prsent, elle estime que rien nest ordi-
naire , et que lessentiel est souvent percep-
tible autrement que par la vue .
A la Biennale, Hachem prsente la vido Per-
ception. Le rouge existe ou nexiste-t-il pas ?
Cette uvre est une remise en question de la
ralit et de ses multiples facettes, de la sub-
jectivit de ltre par rapport sa perception.
Nous nous retrouvons plong dans un monde
o le rouge nexiste pas, inconnu, inaperu
entre le rve et la ralit.
Yasmine Hajji
Ne Paris, dune mre franaise et dun
pre marocain, Yasmine Hajji sintresse rapi-
dement limage. Suite des tudes cinma-
tographiques et une exprience dans le mon-
tage, elle conoit des vidos et des installations
vido pour des groupes marocains. La vido
Skin, diffuse lexposition Corps et gure
du corps la Socit Gnral et au festival
dArt vido de Cannes, pose la question des
limites de notre rapport au corps de lautre.
Avec Matesha revolution, cest le corps social
qui est reprsent travers une srie de gures
portant le mme message, celui de la colre.
Actuellement, Hajji travaille sur un pro-
jet dinstallation Damage House mettant en
scne le corps phmre. Dans la cadre de la
Biennale, Hajji montre cette installation, qui
se prsente sous la forme de projections multi-
ples dans un immeuble inoccup et insalubre.
Les images se font cho dans la mesure o elles
naissent de la mme intention, celle de mon-
trer le quotidien vcu par diffrentes personnes
dans un temps donn, un quotidien choisi par
Cinma & Vido
Vido
Hassan Darsi
Lactivit artistique de Hassan Darsi, qui
est fortement imprgne par son vcu, son
quotidien et son environnement, se dveloppe
partir de processus de travail et de mdias
multiples. Elle prend souvent la forme de pro-
jets participatifs. En 1995, Hassan Darsi fonde
Casablanca le projet La source du lion. A
partir de 1999, il entreprend un travail sur la
dorure, utilisant comme matriau de prdilec-
tion un adhsif dor dont il recouvre des objets
poupes, chaises de jardin, tlviseurs, tanks,
dents - mais aussi des lieux publics, comme
la faade dune galerie dart de Casablanca en
2007, les blocs en bton de la jete du port de
Guia de Isora Tnrife en 2008 et, en 2012,
ceux de la jete du port de Marseille. En 2001,
il initie la srie Portraits de famille en propo-
sant aux habitants de huit villes dans le monde
de poser dans son studio ambulant, de 2001
2009. Le projet du parc de lHermitage (2002-
2008), qui prend la forme de passerelles artis-
tiques, marquera le dbut dune srie dactions
et de travaux lis des questionnements sur la
ville, larchitecture et les espaces publics : Le
lion se meurt, Le passage de la modernit, Le
square den bas, Point zro, Le toit du monde,
Chantiers en or
Paralllement ces projets, il a particip
de nombreuses expositions internationales
dans des centres dart, des muses et des bien-
nales. Ses uvres ont fait lobjet de plusieurs
tudes et publications travers le monde ; elles
sont prsentes dans de nombreuses collections
publiques et prives au Maroc et ltranger.
Rcemment, Le Projet de la Maquette est en-
tre dans la collection du Centre Georges Pom-
pidou Paris.
99
Cinema & Video
Artist Biographies
dependent of one another, united only by
sitethe building. The squalor of the apart-
ment block nds an echo in the aesthetics of
the images and their content, reections of a
life lived in spite of everything.
Mohammed Laouli
Born in 1972 in Sal, where he lives and
works, Mohammed Laouli studied philosophy
at university. His work was the subject of solo
exhibitions at Rabat Villa des Arts (2011) and
Kenitra French Institute (2010). He has partic-
ipated in several group exhibitions, including
global aCtIVISm, ZKM Center for Art and Me-
dia, Karlsruhe (2013); One Hope Map, Cul-
tuurcentrum, Bruges; The Moroccan Mix,Victo-
ria & Albert Museum, London (2012); Travail
Mode dEmploi, Centrale for Contemporary
Art, Brussels (2012); Between Walls, Rabat;
Plpac, Rabat French Institute (2012); The Off,
Brussels International Book Fair (2008); and
In Water We Trust for the Le Bocal Agite pro-
ject, in partnership with the Goethe Institute
and the French Cultural Centre (2007). He has
been invited by several art centers, including
Pakavait Studio, Moscow (2005); Spring of
Visual Arts, Rabat (2009); Ecole Suprieure
des Beaux-Arts, Marrakech (2010); Paris In-
ternational City of Arts (2011); and The Cube,
an independent art room in Rabat (2013).
In the artists statement, his work is the
starting point for an endogenous, top-down
examination of the world around him. He
explores phenomena that traverse, distort, or
mark society. While his thought process does
include an element of political engagement,
Laoulis approach is non-discursive. He does
not pretend to be a counselor, teacher or politi-
cian. He seeks simply to explore his vision and
awareness, moment by moment, wandering
through streets, structures and wastelands.
99
Cinma & Vido
ces personnes et jou par elles. Nanmoins,
les images restent indpendantes les unes des
autres, seul les runit le lieu, limmeuble. A
linsalubrit du lieu rpondent lesthtique de
limage et son contenu, reets dune vie vcue
malgr tout.
Mohammed Laouli
N en 1972 Sal o il vit et travaille, Mo-
hammed Laouli a suivi des tudes de philoso-
phie. Deux expositions individuelles lui ont t
consacres la Villa des Arts de Rabat en 2011
et lInstitut Franais de Kenitra en 2010. Il
a particip plusieurs expositions collectives,
dont global aCtIVISm au ZKM, muse dart
contemporain de Karlsruhe en Allemagne, en
2013, One Hope Map au Culturecentrum de
Bruges en Belgique, The Morrocan Mix au
Victoria & Albert Museum de Londres 2012,
Travail Mode dEmploi la Centrale Electric
for Contemporary Art Bruxelles en 2012,
Between Walls Rabat, Plpac lInstitut
Franais de Rabat en 2012, The Off la Foire
Internationale du Livre de Bruxelles en 2008
et In water we trust pour le projet Le Bocal
Agite en partenariat avec lInstitut Goethe et
le Centre Culturel Franais en 2007. Il a t
invit par plusieurs centres dart, dont le Stu-
dio Pakavait Moscou (2005), le Printemps
des arts visuels Rabat en 2009, lcole Sup-
rieure dArt visuel de Marrakech en 2010, la
Cit internationale des arts de Paris en 2011
ou encore Le Cube, indpendant art room, de
Rabat en 2013.
Selon Mohammed Laouli, son travail
pose les prmices dune lecture endogne
et verticale de ce qui lentoure. Il explore des
phnomnes qui traversent, estropient ou
marquent sa socit. Si sa rexion contient
une part dengagement, le propos de Moham-
med Laouli est non discursif. Il ne simprovise
pas prescripteur, donneur de leon ou homme
politique. Il dploie simplement son regard et
son sentiment, par instants, au dtour dune
rue, dune btisse ou dune friche .
101
Cinema & Video
Artist Biographies
Hicham Ayouch, As They Say, 2011.
Courtesy of the artist
Mohammed Laouli, Everything Is Sacred, 2012.
Hicham Ayouch, Fissures, 2008.
Mohammed Laouli, Untitled, 2012.
Mohammed Laouli, Golf Project, 2012.
101
Cinma & Vido
Soukeina Hachem, Perception, 2011.
Yasmine Hajji, Damage House, 2013.
Hassan Darsi, Une heure au chevet du lion, 2005.
Courtesy of the artist and La Source du Lion
Amir Rouani, Jezebel, 2013.
Ismal El Iraki, Harash, 2009.
103
Cinema & Video
Carte Blanche at
the Cinmathque de Tanger
Malika Chaghal, Managing Director of Cinmathque de Tanger
In 2007 the Cinmathque de Tanger opened its doors on
Grand Socco square, in the center of the historic city, after car-
rying out a heritage regeneration project involving an architec-
tural restoration that has set a precedent locally and nationally.
Today, this cultural institutionone of a kind in northern Mo-
roccois proud to screen the best of classic and contemporary
cinema. The Cinmathque is more than just a movie theater. It
has become a lively space dedicated to the seventh art and its
culture, enriching the lives of locals by exposing them to other
perspectives.
Thanks to its lm programs, educational workshops, and con-
ferences, as well as its library and bar, it allows Tangier to be
part of the contemporary world all year round.
Today the promotes activities at the intersection of cinema, art,
and culture. It is a place where cinema, in all of its forms and
genres, is a tool, a platform for discussion and reection.
Why this Carte Blanche at the Cinmathque de Tanger within
the Marrakech Biennale? First of all, because cinematic art has
a legitimate place in an event dedicated to international con-
temporary culture, one whose founders chose openness as
their watchword.
Moreover, the Cinmathque serves both as a crucible for
young directors and as a purveyor of unique lms that are not
products of the commercial trade ow. It has no preconceived
ideas about the cinematic genres it takes on, from art lms to
lms rooted in contemporaneity.
This Carte Blanche and the program it offers t harmoniously
into the Biennales approach, providing an answer to the theme
of this fth edition: WHERE ARE WE NOW?
103
Cinma & Vido
Carte Blanche
la Cinmathque de Tanger
Malika Chaghal, Dlgue gnrale de la Cinmathque de Tanger
En 2007, la Cinmathque de Tanger a ouvert ses portes sur
la place du Grand Socco, au centre de la ville historique, aprs
avoir men un projet de rhabilitation du patrimoine grce
une restauration architecturale qui a fait cole, localement et sur
la scne nationale.
Aujourdhui, cette institution culturelle, unique en son genre
dans le nord marocain, est re de programmer le meilleur du
rpertoire du cinma classique et contemporain. Plus quune
salle de projection, la Cinmathque est devenue un espace vi-
vant, ddi au septime art et sa culture, qui contribue enri-
chir la vie locale en louvrant sur dautres horizons.
Tout au long de lanne, grce sa programmation de lms,
dateliers pdagogiques et de confrences, ainsi que sa biblio-
thque et sa buvette, elle permet dinscrire Tanger dans le monde
contemporain.
Aujourdhui, la Cinmathque est devenue un lieu qui promeut
des actions au croisement du cinma, de lart et de la culture.
Le cinma, sous toutes ses formes et ses genres, y est un outil au
service dune plateforme dchanges et de rexion.
Pourquoi cette Carte Blanche la Cinmathque de Tanger
au sein de la Biennale de Marrakech ? Tout dabord parce que
lart cinmatographique a toute sa place dans une manifesta-
tion ddie la culture contemporaine internationale, et dont
les fondateurs ont notamment choisi comme matre-mot celui
d ouverture .
Par ailleurs, la Cinmathque sert la fois de creuset aux jeunes
ralisateurs et de passeur pour les lms singuliers qui ne relvent
pas du ux commercial, sans a priori sur les genres cinmatogra-
phiques abords, que ceux-ci aillent du lm de la geste artistique
aux lms ancrs dans la contemporanit.
Cette Carte Blanche et la programmation propose sinscrivent
donc harmonieusement dans la dmarche de la Biennale, et r-
pondent au thme de cette 5
me
dition : O SOMMES-NOUS
MAINTENANT ?.
104 105
Within the Sound of Your Voice
Trading Urban Stories
If You Are So Smart, Why Aint You Rich?
Donelle Woolford:
Performer, Artisan, Narrator
African Fabbers
Artist Simohammed Fettaka Presents:
ZOBRA
Alexander Ponomarev:
Voice in the Wilderness
The Coffee Grounds Index (CGI)
Robertas Narkus:
Half Hotel
[SFIP] Project
Donelle Woolford:
African Fabbers
Artist Simohammed Fettaka Presents:
ZOBRA
Robertas Narkus:
Half Hotel
[SFIP] Project
Parallel
Projects
Projets
Parallles
107
Bernhard Leitner, SOUNDCUBE (Winged Space), 1970
Courtesy of Archive Leitner
Projets Parallles
Within the
Sound of Your
Voice
Commissaires dexposition : Niekolaas
Johannes Lekkerkerk (The ofce for curating)
et Tiago de Abreu Pinto
Le 18, Derb el Ferrane, Marrakech
Within the Sound of Your Voice est une ex-
position collective trente-trois tours par
minute. Lexposition est portative, prenant
la forme dun disque vinyle qui pse environ
440 grammes. Le disque est protg par une
pochette, qui sert aussi prsenter et illustrer
son contenu : textuel-
lement, visuellement et
esthtiquement. La po-
chette de cette exposi-
tion a t conue pour
contenir une troisime
dimension : une archi-
tecture qui peut tre
dballe et enveloppe
dans un autre espace,
devenant un espace
en soi ou un espace
lintrieur dun espace.
Lexposition comprend
les voix de treize ar-
tistes engags dans
lacte de parler, parfois
de faon indirecte ou
mtaphorique : Milena
Bonilla et Luisa Ungar, Dina Danish et Gogi
Dzodzuashvili, Dora Garca, Morten Norbye
Halvorsen, Marcellvs L., Lubomyr Melnyk,
Clare Noonan, O Grivo, Daniel Steegmann et
Joana Saraiva, ainsi que Triin Tamm.
Les dix uvres qui composent lexposition
constituent un commentaire sur la nature du
Parallel Projects
Within the
Sound of Your
Voice
Curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk
(The Ofce for Curating)
and Tiago de Abreu Pinto
Le 18, Derb el Ferrane, Marrakech
Within the Sound of Your Voice is a group ex-
hibition at thirty-three rounds per minute. The
exhibition is portable and in the shape of a
vinyl record weighing approximately 440
grams. The vinyl is protected by a sleeve,
which also serves to express and illustrate
its contentstextually,
visually, aesthetically.
The sleeve of this ex-
hibition has been de-
signed to incorporate
a third dimension: an
architecture that can
be unpacked and en-
veloped in another
space, becoming a
space in and of itself,
or a space within a
space. The exhibition
is comprised of the
voices of thirteen artists
in the act of speaking,
at times indirectly or
metaphorically: Mile-
na Bonilla and Luisa
Ungar, Dina Danish and Gogi Dzodzuashvili,
Dora Garca, Morten Norbye Halvorsen, Mar-
cellvs L., Lubomyr Melnyk, Clare Noonan, O
Grivo, Daniel Steegmann and Joana Saraiva,
and Triin Tamm.
The ten exhibited works comment on the na-
ture of the exhibition site and, more general-
107
site dexposition et, plus gnralement, sur le
contexte de la Biennale de Marrakech et la
ville dans son ensemble. En rponse au thme
de la Biennale O SOMMES-NOUS MAIN-
TENANT ?, nous avons prouv le besoin
dexplorer un autre type dexposition : com-
poser une analogie dexemples qui permet aux
visiteurs dapprhender le temps et lespace qui
sont les leurs, de manire plus dimensionnelle,
en donnant limpression dun contexte trange,
moins cohrent et moins stable. En dautres
termes, lexposition cherche transformer
lauditeur en sujet dune exprience squence,
renverser les cartes pistmologiques de cha-
cun, questionner ses ides reues et (peut-tre
surtout) susciter et provoquer de la curiosit
envers les choses du monde, sans passer par la
connaissance ou la comprhension.
Projets Parallles
Within The Sound Of Your Voice
ly, on the context of the Marrakech Biennale
and the city as a whole. In response to the
Biennales title WHERE ARE WE NOW? we
felt an urge to explore a different exhibition
format: to compose an analogy of examples
that would allow visitors to come to terms with
their time and space more dimensionally, by
making its context seem strange, less coher-
ent, and less grounded. In other words, the
exhibition aims to make the listener the subject
of a sequenced experiment, to overturn ones
epistemological maps, confront ones precon-
ceived knowledges, and (perhaps most impor-
tantly) to prompt and trigger a curiosity for the
things in the world through not-knowing and
not understanding.
Parallel Projects
109
Projets Parallles
Trading Urban
Stories
Une installation sonore, un espace de narra-
tion en rseau et un happening radiophonique
de Berit Schuck et Julia Tieke
Installation sonore au Riad Denise Masson
Happening radiophonique aux points de rendez-vous de la Biennale de
Marrakech, le Riad Denise Masson, le Caf des pices et dautres endroits dans
la Mdina de Marrakech.
Trading Urban Stories est un projet dexposi-
tion qui a dbut avec lide dexplorer et de
rchir sur les histoires, les paysages sonores
et le tissu social de diffrentes villes arabes.
Le projet comprend plusieurs cartes sonores
de diffrents formats. A loccasion de la Bien-
nale de Marrakech,
linstallation A Sonic
Map of Alexandria,
qui contient vingt-
deux pices sonores
ralises Alexandrie
en 2012, sera prsen-
te en association
avec Here and Now.
Voices of Marrakech,
un happening radio-
phonique ayant lieu
lintrieur et au-
tour de la Mdina de
Marrakech.
A Sonic Map of
Alexandria a t
compos partir dentretiens, denregistre-
ments lextrieur, de sons et darchives so-
nores, et peut tre dcouvert sur le web, tl-
charg ou cout sur un smartphone. Luvre
propose aux auditeurs de dcouvrir le paysage
sonore de la ville ainsi quun nombre dhis-
toires que les habitants ont accept de partager
autour des thmes de lespace, de la musique,
de lcrit, et qui mlangent des rcits du pass,
Parallel Projects
Trading Urban
Stories
An audio installation, networked storytelling
space, and radio happening
by Berit Schuck and Julia Tieke
Audio installation at the Riad Denise Masson
Radio happening at the meeting points of the Marrakech Biennale, Riad Denise
Masson, Caf des pices, and other locations in the Medina of Marrakech
Trading Urban Stories is a curatorial project
that started with the idea to explore and reect
on the stories, soundscapes, and social fabric
of different Arab cities. The project comprises
several sonic maps with varying formats. On
the occasion of the Marrakech Biennale the
installation A Sonic
Map of Alexandria,
containing twenty
audio pieces creat-
ed in Alexandria in
2012, will be com-
bined with Here and
Now. Voices of Mar-
rakech, a radio hap-
pening taking place
inside and around
the Medina of Mar-
rakech.
A Sonic Map of Al-
exandria is based
on interviews, eld
recordings, sounds,
and archival material and can be explored
online, downloaded, or listened to on smart-
phones. The work invites the audience to dis-
cover the citys soundscape and a number of
stories that were shared by residents along-
side the themes of space, music, and script,
blending narratives from the past, present,
and future.
Greta Tiedje, Lisa Tiedje, Black Plan, Section of the Medina of Marrakech,
2011. Courtesy of the artists
109
du prsent et de lavenir.
Here and Now. Voices of Marrakech est une
combinaison de pices sonores exprimentales
sur la Mdina de Marrakech et de conversa-
tions en direct. Conue comme un happening
radiophonique, Here and Now. Voices of
Marrakech est autant une mission de radio
laquelle participent des artistes marocains
et trangers quune intervention au sein de la
scne radiophonique locale. Les sons, la mu-
sique et les histoires de la Mdina sont pr-
sents et interprts en direct par des gens
qui connaissent la Mdina par cur. Certains
dentre eux sont des architectes, des activistes,
des artistes et des praticiens ; dautres ont par-
ticip la cration dun espace de narration en
rseau en amont de lvnement. Une fois dif-
fus, Here and Now. Voices of Marrakech sera
ensuite archiv sur lInternet et prsent dans
dautres villes de la rgion et au-del.
Avec le soutien de lInstitut franais du Maroc,
le Goethe-Institut et lInstitut allemand des
relations culturelles avec ltranger (ifa). Le
happening radiophonique est ralis en colla-
boration avec radio.aporee.org, NssNss.ma et
NessRadio.com
Projets Parallles
Here and Now. Voices of Marrakech com-
bines experimental audio pieces about the
Medina of Marrakech with live conversations
on air. Conceived as a radio happening, Here
and Now. Voices of Marrakech is both a radio
show with contributions by Moroccan and in-
ternational artists and an intervention into the
local radio scene. The soundscape, music, and
stories of the Medina are presented and per-
formed live by people who know the Medina
by heart. Some of them are architects, activ-
ists, artists, and practitioners; others participat-
ed in the creation of a networked storytelling
space ahead of the event. Once broadcast,
Here and Now. Voices of Marrakech will later
be archived online and presented in other cit-
ies, in the region and beyond.
With Anna Raimondo, Burak Arikan, C-drk
aka Kirdec, Doudy Brocolis Widdy, Greta &
Lisa Tiedje, Ghassan Wal, Hassan Hajjaj,
Kamal Laftimi, Jalal El Allouli, Nordine Enna-
jraoui, Radio Papesse, Udo Noll, residents of
the Medina of Marrakech and special guests.
With the support of the French Institute of
Morocco, Goethe-Institut and the Institute for
Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa). The radio hap-
pening is made in collaboration with radio.
aporee.org, NssNss.ma, and NessRadio.com
Parallel Projects
111
Projets Parallles
If You Are So
Smart, Why
Aint You Rich?
On the Economics of Knowledge
Commissaires dexposition : Bonaventure Soh
Bejeng Ndikung et Pauline Doutreluingne
Commissaires adjoints : Gauthier Lesturgie et
Anneli von Klitzing
ESAV, Marrakech
rend hommage au compositeur minimaliste
et artiste afro-amricain Julius Eastman. Elle
interroge, par le biais dune rexion artis-
tique, la place que tiennent la connaissance et
lconomie au sein de la socit et leur point
de convergence.
Douze artistes inter-
nationaux travail-
lant principalement
partir de sons et
dinstallations ont
t invits rchir
et se positionner au
sein de socits du
savoir dans le cadre
de la recherche artis-
tique.
Nous sommes en
pleine crise conomique, consquence dune
folle soif de richesses et dune prfrence pour
lavarice plutt que pour la sagesse. Nous nous
trouvons une poque o la rpartition des
richesses et de lintelligence, ainsi que leur re-
lation mutuelle, sont au cur des ngociations
de la socit contemporaine. Alors que nous
assistons la lente rcupration du pouvoir
conomique par les pays du BRICS, If You Are
So Smart, Why Aint You Rich? est un point de
dpart pertinent pour dbattre du poids de la
connaissance et de lconomie, des volutions
vers des socits du savoir (et savantes)
Parallel Projects
If You Are So
Smart, Why
Aint You Rich?
On the Economics of Knowledge
Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
and Pauline Doutreluingne
Assistant curators: Gauthier Lesturgie and
Anneli von Klitzing
ESAV, Marrakech
If You Are So Smart, Why Aint You Rich? pays
tribute to the African-American minimalist com-
poser and artist Julius Eastman. It questions,
through artistic reection, the place and con-
uence of knowledge and economics within
society. Twelve international artists working
primarily with sound
and installation have
been invited to cog-
itate and position
themselves within
Knowledge Soci-
eties in the frame-
work of artistic re-
search.
We are in the middle
of an economic cri-
sis, a consequence of
a craving for wealth
and a privileging of avarice over wisdom. We
nd ourselves in an age where the distribution
of wealth and the distribution of intelligence,
as well as their relationship to one another,
are at the crux of societys contemporary ne-
gotiations. As we witness the slow overtake of
economic power by the BRICS countries, If You
Are So Smart, Why Aint You Rich? is a useful
starting point to deliberate on the weighting
of knowledge and economics, the tendencies
toward Knowledge(able) Societies, and the
price one has to pay to obtain, maintain, and
propagate them. Knowledge in this context
Younes Baba-Ali, Untitled (Megaphones), 2013.
111
et du prix que chacun doit payer pour obte-
nir, maintenir et propager celles-ci. Dans ce
contexte, la connaissance ne se limite pas la
monoculture occidentale - du savoir scien-
tique, mais est entendue comme une co-
logie des savoirs, telle quelle est dcrite par
Boaventura de Sousa Santos dans la prface de
Another Knowledge is Possible (2007).

sintresse aussi aux sons et lexprience so-
nore qui dpasse la simple transcription vers la
matrialit du langage. Elle explore la manire
dont le son peut devenir palpable, tactile et
textuel dans la socit, la politique et lcono-
mie en particulier dans le cadre artistique.
Artistes : Gilles Aubry et Zouheir Atbane,
Younes Baba Ali, Tal Isaac Hadad, Anne
Duk Hee Jordan, Brandon LaBelle, Marco
Montiel-Soto, Emeka Ogboh, Ali Tnani &
Lukas Truniger, Paolo Bottarelli et Evgenija
Wassilew
Avec le soutien de Goethe-Institut, Pro Hel-
vetia, les autorits amandes, et le snat de
Berlin.
www.ifyouaresosmartwhyaintyourich.org
Projets Parallles
is not limited to the Western monoculture of
scientic knowledge, but is understood as
an ecology of knowledges, as described by
Boaventura de Sousa Santos in the introduc-
tion to Another Knowledge is Possible (2007).
also investigates sound and sonorous experi-
ence that goes beyond mere transcription into
languages materiality. It explores how sound
becomes haptic, tactile, and textual in society,
politics, and economicsparticularly in the
framework of art.
Artists: Gilles Aubry and Zouheir Atbane,
Younes Baba Ali, Tal Isaac Hadad, Anne
Duk Hee Jordan, Brandon LaBelle, Marco
Montiel-Soto, Emeka Ogboh, Ali Tnani &
Lukas Truniger, Paolo Bottarelli and Evgenija
Wassilew
With support from the Goethe Institut, Pro
Helvetia, the Flemish Authorities, and Berliner
Senat.
www.ifyouaresosmartwhyaintyourich.org
Parallel Projects
113
Projets Parallles
Donelle
Woolford:
Performer,
Artisan,
Narrator
Commissaire dexposition : Karima Boudou
assiste par Souan Khjrar
60 Derb Tijara, Marrakech
A y repenser, il mest possible de dire la chose
suivante : un jour, jai pens au travail de Do-
nelle Woolford en tant quoutil. Je ne voulais
pas me contenter de le citer (les citations ne
sont quaffection et euphorie). Je souhaitais
dvelopper un trusteeship autour de son tra-
vail, men servir comme d un arsenal tho-
rique dans lenchevtrement de problmes que
jessayais de rsoudre lpoque; de trouver en
elle le concept, les vecteurs et la grille de lec-
ture qui rpondraient mes proccupations,
et rendre un nouveau dpart possible. Rapide-
ment, je me suis rendue compte que Donelle
ntait pas une aubaine; qu elle ne servirait
pas de guide an de rpondre des questions
spciques (mme si souvent tait abord un
sujet dont je voulais dbattre, ce qui nest pas
la mme chose). Loin doprer comme un m-
canisme de focalisation ou de synthtisation,
son travail contribuait sans y paratre dis-
perser le l de ma pense. Il n enlevait aucun
des obstacles, mais a toujours rpondu indi-
rectement an de souligner un autre chemin
dans un labyrinthe pourtant dj complexe.
Pour la premire fois, mon loyal alli stait
transform en quelque chose dinutile et dinu-
tilisable.*
* Cet essai est tir de Ecrivain, artisan, narrateur, un article publi dans un
volume spcial de Critique ddi luvre de Donelle Woolford. (no. 425, aot/
septembre 1982, pp. 785-796). Une version intgrale de cet essai est disponible en
ligne : http://www.disparere.com/agence/donelle-woolford.
Parallel Projects
Donelle
Woolford:
Performer,
Artisan,
Narrator
Curated by Agence: Karima Boudou,
assisted by Souan Khjrar
60 Derb Tijara, Marrakech
In looking back, I can say this: one day I
thought of Donelle Woolfords work as a tool.
I didnt only want to cite it (for citations may
be used to no other purpose than affection and
exhilaration), but to use her artworks in a sort
of trusteeship, as a theoretical arsenal in the
tangle of problems I was trying to solve at the
time; to nd in her being the concept, the vec-
tors, and grid that would address my specic
concerns, and make a new start possible. Al-
most immediately, I realized that Donelle was
no boon; that she would not serve as a guide
to answer specic questions (even though it
often broached a topic I wanted to debate,
which isnt the same thing). Far from operat-
ing as a focusing mechanism or synthesizer,
her work indolently dispersed the intertwined
threads of my thought. It removed none of the
obstacles, but always answered with indirec-
tion to point out another track in an already
overly articulated labyrinth. For the rst time it
was not a trustworthy ally, but something use-
less and unuseable.*
* This essay was originally published as Ecrivain, artisan, narrateur, in a spe-
cial issue, devoted to Donelle Woolford, of Critique, no. 425 (August-September
1982), 785-796. A full version of this essay can be read online: http://www.
disparere.com/agence/donelle-woolford
113
AGENCE est un bureau bas Beni Mellal,
une ville de travailleurs et de fermiers au Ma-
roc. AGENCE partage ses projets et sa logis-
tique intellectuellement et conomiquement en
privilgiant les notions dauteur et dconomie
du travail.
Projets Parallles
Donelle Woolford:
AGENCE is an ofce based in Beni Mellal,
a town of laborers and farmers in Morocco.
AGENCE shares its projects and logistics intel-
lectually and economically by privileging the
notions of authorship and economy of labor.
Parallel Projects
Donelle Woolford:
Donelle Woolford,1907, 2007.
Courtesy of the artist and Wallspace, New York
115
Projets Parallles
African
Fabbers
Commissaire dexposition : Paolo Cascone
avec la collaboration dUrban FabLab et de
Maria Giovanna Mancini. Equipe: Paolo
Cascone, Elena Ciancio, Giuliano Galluccio,
Andrea Giglio, Flavio Galdi, Maria Giovanna
Mancini, Imma Polito, Stephane Tapsoba,
Salma Ettoumi, Ramia Beladel, Fatou Dieng,
Federico Forestiero
LBlassa, Marrakech
Dun point de vue programmatique le projet
African Fabbers a choisi dactiver un processus
collectif permettant de repenser, travers la
pratique du laboratoire, les rapports entre les
nouvelles technologies et la culture tradition-
nelle. Cette ide se construit dans une perspec-
tive de continuit re-
nouvele, plutt que
de sparation rigide.
Dailleurs, la formule
du labo, plateforme
dchange entre art,
design et technologie,
invite repenser les
dynamiques dappar-
tenance culturelle et
rchir la nature
de lespace anthropo-
logique dans lequel
elles se dveloppent.
African Fabbers est un projet dinnovation
social but non lucratif dvelopp par Urban
FabLab. Lide est de connecter des commu-
nauts de makers et de cratifs africains et
europens travers des ateliers, des projets
collectifs, des confrences etc. Le projet met
en valeur une approche dautoproduction et
dquipement daccs libre (open source) dont
le but est une utilisation crative et durable des
technologies innovantes. Il sagit de crer des
prototypes cologiques grce une approche
artisanale avance. African Fabbers dveloppe
Parallel Projects
African
Fabbers
Curator: Paolo Cascone, in collaboration with
Urban FabLab and Maria Giovanna Mancini
Team: Paolo Cascone, Elena Ciancio,
Giuliano Galluccio, Andrea Giglio, Flavio
Galdi, Maria Giovanna Mancini, Imma
Polito, Stephane Tapsoba, Salma Ettoumi,
Ramia Beladel, Fatou Dieng, Federico
Forestiero
LBlassa, Marrakech
The African Fabbers project activates a collec-
tive process that enables a reconsideration of
the relationship between new technology and
traditional culture through a laboratory prac-
tice. This idea is based on a perspective of re-
newed continuity, rather than strict separation.
The laboratory for-
mata platform for
exchange between
art, design, and tech-
nologyencourages
us to reconsider the
dynamics of cultural
belonging, and con-
template the nature
of the anthropolog-
ical space in which
they develop.
African Fabbers is a
non-prot social innovation project developed
by Urban FabLab. The idea is to connect the Af-
rican and European community of makers and
creative people through workshops, collective
projects, and conferences. The project show-
cases an approach based on self-production
and open-source hardware, with the goal of
using innovative technology in a creative and
sustainable way. It is about creating ecolog-
ical prototypes using an advanced artisanal
approach. African Fabbers is developing an
itinerant, experimental fablab. This laboratory
is designed to be an open atelier where artists,
Urban FabLab, AFp.0, 2013.
115
un fablab itinrant et exprimental. Ce labo
est conu comme un atelier ouvert o les ar-
tistes, les makers et les designers peuvent ex-
plorer des technologies de fabrication digitale
en interaction avec des techniques artisanales
traditionnelles.
La premire tape dAfrican Fabbers se d-
roule Marrakech dans le cadre de la Bien-
nale en se centrant sur les sujets suivants : (1)
auto-construction : impression 3D en utilisant
largile, (2) technologie ouverte: cre ta propre
imprimante 3D low-cost.
Partenaires technologiques: Massimo Mo-
retti and Wasp. Partenaires locaux: ESAV,
CFQMM, Voice Gallery. Avec le soutien de
Fondazione IDIS / Citt della Scienza,
Fondazione Inarcassa
Projets Parallles
African Fabbers
makers, and designers can explore digital
fabrication technology in combination with tra-
ditional artisanal techniques.
The rst phase of African Fabbers takes place
in Marrakech in the context of the Biennale. It
focuses on the following subjects: (1) self-con-
struction: 3D printing using clay and (2) open-
source technology: make your own low-cost
3D printer.
Technical partners: Massimo Moretti and
Wasp. Local partners: ESAV, CFQMM, Voice
Gallery. With the support of Fondazione IDIS
/ Citt della Scienza, Fondazione Inarcassa
Parallel Projects
African Fabbers
117
Projets parallles
Artist
Simohammed
Fettaka Presents:
ZOBRA
Commissaire dexposition : Nawal Slaoui
CulturesInterface.
Contemporary art production & distribution
LBlassa, Marrakech
Zobra, de larabe , signie morceau de fer,
puissance. En slovaque, zobra signie dmons-
tration ou parade.
Larmure, imagine et conue pour le projet,
est expose en tant quobjet sculptural hors
fonction - aux cts dune vi-
do restituant lintervention
de lartiste qui la porte dans
les rues de Marrakech. La
traverse par cette gure ana-
chronique despaces contem-
porains ractive la charge
utopique des grands rcits
chevaleresques en mme
temps quelle interroge, de
faon frontale, les formes de
violence concrtes sappli-
quant au corps.
Larmure a pour fonction de
protger et de cacher. Son ma-
triau, le fer, est un mtal que
lon retrouve dans les couches de la terre et qui
contribue la vie jusque dans lunit organique
de ltre. Il a ce pouvoir de nous protger et de
nous dissimuler au monde extrieur. Dans une
socit o lanonymat est rendu possible par
diffrentes technologies, lhomme peut devenir
invisible au regard de lautre, jusqu lannula-
tion de son identit .
Parallel Projects
Artist
Simohammed
Fettaka Presents:
ZOBRA
Curated by Nawal Slaoui
CulturesInterface.
Contemporary art production & distribution
LBlassa, Marrakech
Zobra, from the Arabic , means piece
of iron, power. In Slovak, zobra means
demonstration or parade.
The armor, invented and designed for the
project, is exhibited as a deactivated sculptur-
al object, alongside a video
showing the artist wearing it
in the streets of Marrakech.
This anachronistic gures
crossing of contemporary
spaces revives the utopian
power of the great stories of
chivalry, while at the same
time questioning, in a very
direct way, the forms of con-
crete violence that apply to
the body.
The armors function is to
protect and hide. Its materi-
alironis metal found in
the earths layers, and it con-
tributes to life right down to a persons organic
unity. It has the ability to protect us and con-
ceal us from the outside world. In a society in
which anonymity has been made possible by
various technologies, man can become invisi-
ble to the eyes of others, to the point that his
identity is cancelled.
Simohammed Fettaka, Zobra, 2013
Courtesy of the artist and
CulturesInterface
117
CulturesInterface est une structure de produc-
tion et de diffusion de la cration contempo-
raine au Maghreb et lchelle internationale.
Elle produit et promeut les uvres dartistes
marocains mergeants ou conrms. Pour
cela, elle conoit des expositions et organise
des projets culturels et artistiques dans des es-
paces publics ou privs.
www.culturesinterface.com
Projets parallles
Artist Simohammed Fettaka Presents: ZOBRA
CulturesInterface is an organization that pro-
duces and distributes contemporary art in the
Maghreb and at the international level. It pro-
duces and promotes the works of emerging
and established Moroccan artists. To do this,
it conceives exhibitions and organizes cultur-
al and artistic projects in public and private
spaces.
www.culturesinterface.com
Parallel Projects
Artist Simohammed Fettaka Presents: ZOBRA
119
Projets Parallles
Alexander
Ponomarev:
Voice in the
Wilderness
N31 26 W 08 10 Dsert Agafay, Marrakech
Le destin de chaque homme est une sorte de
voyage travers diffrents lieux, des topo o
se rencontrent les choses, lespace et le temps.
Chaque topos est dtermin par un mlange de
conditions prdtermines et dobjectifs per-
sonnels. Cet espace
o les personnalits
sunissent et sasso-
cient est comme un
ocan, une forme
instable et chan-
geante. Les hommes
se confectionnent
des embarcations
prcaires de bam-
bou. Pour survivre,
ils doivent choisir
leurs capitaines et se
prparer naviguer
travers le monde.
Chaque rseau conceptuel est comme un mail-
lage serr de cordes et de tiges au sein duquel
lindividu cre des associations, se fait une
place, trouve un point dobservation, comme
disent les marins.
Chacun doit se trouver des points de rfrence
extrieurs qui lui permettent de rester debout
dans la vie, un systme de coordonnes ex-
ternes qui dtermine sa situation dans lespace.
Parallel Projects
Alexander
Ponomarev:
Voice in the
Wilderness
N31 26 W 08 10 Agafay Desert, Marrakech
Everyones destiny is a journey between topoi,
sites where things, places, and time come to-
gether.
Preconditions and the personalitys objec-
tives determine individual topoi. The space
where personalities
unite to form socii
is like the ocean. Its
form is unstable and
changeable. People
make their wretched
ships of bamboo; to
survive they prepare
themselves for sailing
the world and choose
their captains.
The bound-together
stems and ropes are
like conceptual networks for settling down in a
socius, for nding ones own place and obser-
vation of sorts, to quote the sailors.
To nd ones bearings in the world, one needs
external reference points, a system of coordi-
nates that is external to man and that deter-
mines his place in space. The star-lit sky, faith,
or ideas will allow people not to lose the right
direction.
Since 1996 I have been evolving the idea of
wreck art, the art of perished ships, because
Alexander Ponomarev, Voice in the Wilderness, 2014.

119
A chacun son ciel toil, sa foi et ses ides
qui lui permettra de garder le cap. Depuis
1996, mon travail explore lide dun art du
naufrage, un art compos dpaves car jai la
forte impression que nous vivons actuellement
une situation sans espoir : nous naviguons
laveuglette, tandis que notre capitaine Mose
samuse dans sa cabine en compagnie de sa
matresse. Notre bateau coule dans un espace
sans limites mais lancien adage les femmes
et les enfants dabord nest plus dactualit.
Cest le capitaine qui est le premier fuir son
bateau en difcult, sa valise entre ses jambes
et ses jambes son cou.
Cest depuis le dsert marocain que jappelle
tous les capitaines du monde reprendre place
bord et tous les hommes ne pas perdre es-
poir et construire des bateaux, mme dans
le dsert. A se trouver de nouveaux points de
rfrence inbranlables.
Projets Parallles
I have the persistent feeling that our situation
is hopeless: we are wandering in the wilder-
ness, our captain Moses is having fun with his
mistress in the cabin, we are lost in boundless
space, our ship careened but the rule ladies
and children rst is no longer, and the cap-
tain is the rst to ee the capsized ship with his
suitcase between his legs.
From the desert of Morocco I am calling on
every captain of the world to get back on
board and every person not to lose hope and
to build ships, even in deserts. I am calling on
artists to rise above the surface to see the hori-
zon. To choose unshakeable reference points..
Parallel Projects
121
Projets Parallles
The Coffee
Grounds Index
(CGI)
YOVO! YOVO!
Prsentation
et compte-rendu de la prsentation
Jamaa El Fna, devant la Bank Al Maghrib, Marrakech
The Coffee Grounds Index (CGI) fait cho
aux innombrables index bass sur une vue du
monde globale et uniforme, qui sont utiliss
pour le diviser en hirarchies commodes. Pour
ce projet, le collectif YOVO! YOVO! propose
une vision diffrente du monde, une vision
imaginative qui sap-
puie sur une percep-
tion prdictive plutt
que sur une ralit
morcele.
YOVO! YOVO!
sinspire de la pro-
position de Walter
Benjamin selon la-
quelle une philosophie qui ninclut pas et ne
peut expliquer la possibilit de prophcie au
moyen du marc de caf ne peut tre une vraie
philosophie. Pour ce projet, les personnes li-
sant dans le marc de caf forment un cercle et
commencent prparer du caf. Le 27 fvrier
2014, leurs prdictions seront lues publique-
ment et annonceront lavenir des 188 tats re-
connus dans le monde.
Perptuant la tradition des conteurs marocains
de la place Jamaa El Fna, le collectif retourne
en ce lieu pour prsenter les rsultats du CGI
sous forme dune performance unique et ex-
ceptionnelle. Au cours des dix jours qui sui-
vront, une personne retournera chaque jour
sur la place pour rendre compte des prdic-
Parallel Projects
The Coffee
Grounds Index
(CGI)
YOVO! YOVO!
Pronouncement
and reporting on the pronouncement
Jamaa El Fna, in front of Bank Al Maghrib, Marrakech
The Coffee Grounds Index (CGI) is a response
to the countless indices predicated on a at
overview of the world used to sort it into handy
hierarchies. For this project the collective
YOVO! YOVO! proposes a contrasting vision
of the world that is imaginative and that relies
on predictive percep-
tion rather than on
striated reality.

YOVO! YOVO!
draws on Walter
Benjamins proposi-
tion that a philoso-
phy which does not
include and cannot
explain the possibility of prophecy by means
of coffee grounds, cannot be a true philoso-
phy. For this project, interpreters of coffee
grounds form a circle and begin brewing cof-
fee. On February 27, 2014 their results will
be read aloud, announcing the future of the
188 declared states of the world.

Continuing the tradition of Moroccan story-
tellers on Jamaa El Fna square, the collective
returns to this site to stage the CGIs results as
a singular, unrepeatable performance. Over
the following ten days one person will return
to the square each day to report CGIs global
prognosis, thereby catalysing an act of speech
into a decentralized rumor.

YOVO! YOVO!, halqa on Jemaa El Fna and detail of a graphic chart,
2013. Courtesy of the artist and Charities Aid Foundation

121
tions gnrales du CGI, contribuant ainsi
la transformation dun acte de parole en une
rumeur dcentralise.
Cette intervention in situ, ralise dans le cadre
de la Biennale de Marrakech 5, sengage dans
des zones qui restent pour nous indnies, r-
vlant le mystre et labsurde tout comme leur
absence. Cest partir de ces zones que peut
natre la nouveaut et que laventure devient
possible.
YOVO! YOVO! a t fond en 2012 Ham-
bourg par Eylien Knig, Martina Mahlknecht,
Martin Prinoth et Doris Margarete Schmidt.
Le projet que le collectif mne actuellement,
<enframing home>, a t montr la Biennale
du Bnin (2012) et la Biennale de Sharjah
11 (2013). Des peintres muraux du Bnin et
des designers de caissons lumineux de Sharjah
participent ce qui se veut un examen de lin-
comprhension et de la perspective multiple.
www.yovoyovo.org
Projets Parallles
This site-specic intervention for the Marrakech
Biennale 5 advances in areas that remain un-
dened to us, turning out mystery and the ab-
surd, and revealing their voids. It is from these
areas that the new can arise and adventure
becomes possible.

YOVO! YOVO! was founded in 2012 in Ham-
burg by Eylien Knig, Martina Mahlknecht,
Martin Prinoth, and Doris Margarete Schmidt.
Their ongoing project <enframing home>,
which was shown at Benin Biennale (2012)
and Sharjah Biennial 11 (2013), involves sign
painters from Benin and light box designers
from Sharjah in an examination of misunder-
standing and multiperspectivity.
www.yovoyovo.org
Parallel Projects
123
Projets Parallles
Robertas
Narkus:
Half Hotel
Commissaire dexposition : Juste Kostikovaite
El Fenn, Marrakech
Merci dentrer par la porte de sortie. Rien
ne sert de consulter votre iPhone cass: une
montre qui sest arrte nindique la bonne
heure que deux fois par jour. Tournez-vous
vers votre gauche ! Bienvenue !
On ne se baigne jamais deux fois dans la mme
rivire. Mais ne vous en faites pas ! Le plai-
sir sublime est une exprience qui atteste de
limpossibilit de lexprience.* Les arrives
sont les nouveaux dparts. Laissez donc vos
rfrences derrire vous, marchez sur la ligne
dhorizon, emportez vos lunettes de soleil et
plongez dans les bains dun plaisir intolrable.
Pendant la premire semaine de la Biennale de
Marrakech, Robertas Narkus se greffera, tel
un parasite, El Fenn, collaborant avec le per-
sonnel transformer ce lieu en un calme laby-
rinthe dexpriences inattendues. Lartiste va
se glisser au milieu des employs et introduire
de nouvelles procdures au sein de la routine
de service quotidienne. Le plaisir hdoniste
la rencontre de lart se teintera deffets de sur-
prise qui viendront interrompre le luxe volup-
tueux de lhtel-boutique.
* Tir de larticle Delighted to death de Nick Lang dans Fanged Noumena :
Collected Writings 1908-2007, dit par Ray Brassier et Robin Mackay (Fal-
mouth : Urbanomic, 2011).
Parallel Projects
Robertas
Narkus:
Half Hotel
Curated by Juste Kostikovaite
El Fenn, Marrakech
Please enter through the exit. Dont look at
your broken iPhonea stopped clock is only
right twice a day anyway. Look left! Welcome!

You can never step in the same river twice.
But dont worry! Sublime pleasure is an ex-
perience of the impossibility of experience.*
Check in is the new check out. Leave your al-
lusions around the corner, walk on the edge of
the horizon, bring your sunglasses and dive
into a spa of intolerable pleasure.

During the rst week of the Marrakech Bien-
nale, Robertas Narkus will parasitically attach
onto the El Fenn hotel, transforming it into a
tranquil labyrinth of unexpected experiences
in collaboration with its personnel. The artist
will inltrate the staff, introducing new proce-
dures into daily service routines. Hedonistic
pleasure will meet art in a twist of a hidden
surprise, breaching the voluptuous luxury of
the boutique resort.

* Excerpted from Nick Lands essay Delighted to Death, in Fanged Noumena:
Collected Writings, 1987-2007, edited by Ray Brassier and Robin Mackay (Fal-
mouth: Urbanomic, 2011).

123
Le travail de Robertas Narkus se dnit comme
une gestion du hasard au sein dune conomie
circonstancielle. Au printemps 2013, lartiste
a ouvert le Vilnius Institute of Pataphysics. Il
tudie actuellement Sanderg Arts Institute
Amsterdam. Il a rcemment pris part des ex-
positions collectives au Studio-X, New-York
(2013) et au Centre dArt Contemporain de
Vilnius (2013).
Avant dentreprendre une formation en pra-
tiques curatoriales dart contemporain au
Royal College of Arts de Londres, Juste Kos-
tikovaite a particip la production de la r-
sidence dartistes CAN Berlin. Plus rcem-
ment, elle a particip au projet Curators go To
The Bar, kim ? au Contemporary Art Center et
Oneiric Hotel, en collaboration avec Julijonas
Urbonas, dans le cadre de la Triennale dAr-
chitecture de Lisbonne. Elle a galement col-
labor la production dex-
positions la Zabludowicz
Collection et au Wysing Arts
Centre.
Projets Parallles
Robertas Narkus: Half Hotel
Robertas Narkus experiments with manage-
ment of chance in the economy of circum-
stances. In spring of 2013 he established the
Vilnius Institute of Pataphysics. At the moment
he is studying at the Sandberg Arts Institute,
Amsterdam. Recently he participated in group
exhibitions at Studio-X NYC, New York (2013)
and Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2013).

Prior to the Curating Contemporary Art course
at Royal College of Art, London, Juste Kos-
tikovaite produced the CAN artist residency
project in Berlin. Her recent projects include
Curators go To The Bar, kim? at Contemporary
Art Center and Oneiric Hotel, in collaboration
with Julijonas Urbonas, at the Lisbon Archi-
tecture Triennial. She has co-curated events
at Zabludowicz Collection and Wysing Arts
Centre.
Parallel Projects
Robertas Narkus: Half Hotel
Robertas Narkus, Documentation for the
project Half Hotel, 2013.

124 125
Projets Parallles
[SFIP] Project
Commissaire dexposition: Kisito Assangni
LBlassa, Marrakech
Les artistes participant au Projet [SFIP] ont
tous en commun de crer des uvres dart vi-
do africain dpassant les clichs traditionnel-
lement associs au continent noir et limage
postcoloniale. Ces uvres ambitionnent de
familiariser le public avec des lectures plus
idiosyncratiques de
lart vido africain
et des thmes, sou-
vent ngligs, dont
il traite. La plupart
des uvres sint-
ressent aux questions
didentit, daltrit
et de tolrance, ain-
si quaux liens so-
ciaux que ces artistes
maintiennent avec
les lieux et la notion dappartenance dans un
monde de plus en plus connect. A travers des
courts-mtrages et des vidos exprimentales
issus de la cration africaine contemporaine, le
programme explore les diffrentes perspectives
esthtiques et mthodologiques qui permettent
de lutter contre lignorance et la perdie intel-
lectuelle.
[SFIP] est un projet dexposition transna-
tional et une plateforme de pense critique,
de recherche et de prsentation de vido art
africain fond en 2011 par Kisito Assangni.
A travers son rseau, [SFIP] se consacre la
diffusion internationale de nouvelles exp-
Parallel Projects
[SFIP] Project
Curated by Kisito Assangni
LBlassa, Marrakech
[SFIP] Project presents a selection of African
video art that stands beyond the clichs still as-
sociated with the dark continent and the post-
colonial image. It seeks to bring viewers closer
to idiosyncratic readings of African video art
and its thematic concerns, which remain large-
ly ignored. Most
works address issues
of alterity, identity,
tolerance, and so-
cial relationships as
artists reexively con-
sider their sense of
place and belonging
in an increasingly in-
terconnected world.
From experimental
video to short lm,
this program focuses on aesthetic and meth-
odological perspectives of ghting ignorance
and intellectual perdy in contemporary Afri-
can art.

[SFIP] is a multi-national exhibition process and
a platform for critical thinking, researching,
and presenting African video art founded in
2011 by Kisito Assangni. The [SFIP] network is
dedicated to the diffusion of new experiences
worldwide through lm and video. The pro-
gram was presented previously at Konsthall,
Malmo; Pori Art Museum, Pori; Torrance Art
Museum; National Centre for Contemporary
Arts, Moscow; Motorenhalle Centre for Con-
Wanja Kimani, Buttons (still), 2012

riences lmiques et vido. Le programme a t
prsent au Konsthall de Malmo ; au Muse
des Beaux-Arts de Pori ; au Muse des Beaux-
Arts de Torrance ; au Centre National dArt
Contemporain de Moscou ; au Centre dArt
Contemporain Motorenhalle de Dresden ainsi
quau Centre dArt de Lucca.
Kisito Assangni est un Franco-congolais, pro-
ducteur et commissaire dexposition. Il a tu-
di la photographie, lhistoire de lart et la mu-
sologie. Son oeuvre se focalise surtout sur la
psychogographie et limpact de la post-mon-
dialisation sur les cultures africaines contem-
poraines. Ses projets ont t exposs la ga-
lerie Whitechapel (Londres), au muse Arnot
Art (New York), au Muse des Arts Derniers
(Paris), au muse TEA de Tnrife (Espagne),
et la fondation 3.14 de Bergen (Norvge),
entre autres. Assangni est le fondateur et le
commissaire dexposition de Time is Love
Screening, un programme dart audiovisuel, et
a cr le projet [SFIP].
Artistes participants : Said A (Maroc),
Nirveda Alleck (Ile Maurice), Jude Anogwih
(Nigeria), Younes Baba-Ali (Maroc), Rehema
Chachage (Tanzanie), Saidou Dicko (Burki-
na Faso), Ndoye Douts (Sngal), Kokou
Ekouagou (Togo), Mohamed El Baz (Ma-
roc), Dimitri Fagbohoun (Bnin), Samba Fall
(Sngal), Wanja Kimani (Kenya), Nicene
Kossentini (Tunisie), Kai Lossgott (Afrique
du Sud), Michele Magema (Dmocracie du
Congo), Nathalie Mba Bikoro (Gabon), Victor
Mutelekesha (Zambie), Johan Thom (Afrique
du Sud), Saliou Traore (Burkina Faso), Guy
Wouete (Cameroun), Ezra Wube (Ethiopie).
Projets Parallles
[SFIP] Project
temporary Art, Dresden; and Lucca Museum.

Kisito Assangni is a Togolese-French curator
and producer who studied photography, art
history and museology. His practice focuses
primarily on psychogeographys and post-glo-
balizations impact on contemporary African
cultures. His projects have been shown inter-
nationally at Whitechapel Gallery, London;
Arnot Art Museum, New York; Muse des Arts
Derniers, Paris; TEA Museum, Tenerife, Spain;
and Foundation 3.14, Bergen, among others.
Assangni is the founder and curator of Time
is Love Screening, an international video art
program and [SFIP].

Participating artists: Said A (Morocco),
Nirveda Alleck (Mauritius), Jude Anogwih (Ni-
geria), Younes Baba-Ali (Morroco), Rehema
Chachage (Tanzania), Saidou Dicko (Burki-
na Faso), Ndoye Douts (Senegal), Kokou
Ekouagou (Togo), Mohamed El Baz (Moroc-
co), Dimitri Fagbohoun (Benin), Samba Fall
(Senegal), Wanja Kimani (Kenya), Nicene
Kossentini (Tunisia), Kai Lossgott (South Afri-
ca), Michele Magema (D.Congo), Nathalie
Mba Bikoro (Gabon), Victor Mutelekesha
(Zambia), Johan Thom (South Africa), Saliou
Traore (Burkina Faso), Guy Wouete (Came-
roon), Ezra Wube (Ethiopia)
Parallel Projects
[SFIP] Project
125
126 127
Afterword Postface
In the Sun
under the
Shadow of
an Olive Tree
Karim El Achak
Au soleil
sous lombre
dun
olivier
Karim El Achak
129
Afterword
In the Sun under the Shadow
of an Olive Tree
Karim El Achak
The theme of Marrakech Bien-
nale 5 calls out to all of us.
Responding to the big ques-
tion WHERE ARE WE NOW?
is complicated unless we es-
tablish rst that the notion of
timethe NOWis inextri-
cable from that of spacethe
city of Marrakech.
We can identify the NOW
only when notions of past
and future are included in
our discussion and interroga-
tion. We must turn our gaze
to our past to understand and
identify where were coming
from, and only then, clear-
eyed and attentive, can we
settle comfortably around the
table of the Biennale to dis-
cuss the question Where are
we now? that will lead us to
project ourselves toward the
future, and toward the real
question: Where are we go-
ing?
As for the dimension of
space, we must ask Where
are we?in the geograph-
ical sensebut also Who
are we?in terms of our
identity. At an encounter such
as the Biennale, the ques-
tion of identity is too reduc-
tive compared to the stakes
at hand and the answers
sought. This suggests that this
event that Vanessa Branson
and indeed all of uswanted
so much to come to life, is
just the rst step in building a
bridge between identity and
differences. It is the link, as
Martin Heidegger said while
imagining his bridge, that
cancels out the distance be-
tween things to such an ex-
tent that it creates an unprec-
edented proximity.
In an era when the crisis of
models in all disciplines is at
its height, I would say that the
moment is ripe for this event:
an occasion to collectively
reect on subjects that by
denition elude our simplis-
tic perception of boundaries.
Consequently, the Biennale
will have to be an encounter
where the exchanges and
meetings and sharing are
cross-disciplinary.
If the moment is ripe, the
location is even more apt,
given that the city of Mar-
rakech wasand still isa
land where people, goods,
thoughts, and credos inter-
sect. Beyond its geographic
location, Morocco draws will-
ingly on its culturally diverse
resources, which is why to-
day more than ever the ques-
tion of Moroccan singularity
is so relevant. I remain deeply
convinced that at Marrakech
Biennale 5 we will nd some
answers to all the big ques-
tions that are the object of our
meeting. It is therefore impor-
tant for us to rally around the
Biennale of Art and Architec-
ture, to create areas of discus-
sion that bear witness to the
vivacity of our cultures, and
for each of us to take the rst
steps in reaching the Other.
Thinking, reecting, and ex-
changing, within different
contexts, will allow us to shat-
ter the idea, latent in all of us,
that the North brings knowl-
edge and wisdom, and the
South receives it. Let us there-
fore build this bridge across
the gap, so that we may
establish a reversible ow
of knowledge and teaching.
When I say reversible ow, I
mean that we must apply an
almost universal approach to
the pairs modern-ancient,
technology-nature, and
Occident-Orient, to name
a few. The Marrakech Bien-
nale is an opportunity for us
to concretize, in this setting, a
way of thinking.
Attendance at the very suc-
cessful Marrakech Biennale
4 in 2012 increased from
previous Biennales. Yet for
an event of such importance,
it did not reach its potential.
129
Postface
Au soleil sous lombre
dun olivier
Karim El Achak
La thmatique de la 5
me
di-
tion de la Biennale de Mar-
rakech nous interpelle tous.
Complexe est la tche qui
consiste rpondre cette
grande question de U
SOMMES-NOUS MAINTE-
NANT ? , si lon ne considre
pas, en amont, la notion de
temps du Now (maintenant)
et celle de lespace de Mar-
rakech comme un binme in-
dissociable.
Le Now devient identi-
able une fois que les notions
de pass et de futur ont
intgr notre dbat et notre
questionnement. Il est indis-
pensable de tourner un regard
sur notre pass an de com-
prendre et didentier do
nous venons. Ce regard serein
et attentif nous permettra de
nous installer confortable-
ment autour de la table de la
Biennale et de dbattre cette
question, ce qui nous condui-
ra nous projeter vers lave-
nir et invitablement nous
conduira la vraie question
du o allons-nous ?.
Quant la dimension es-
pace , elle induit le o
somme-nous ? dans une
perspective purement go-
graphique mais aussi le qui
sommes-nous ? dans une
perspective identitaire. Lors
dune rencontre comme la
Biennale, la question iden-
titaire reste rductrice par
rapport aux enjeux poss et
aux rponses recherches. Ce
qui laisse penser que cet v-
nement, fortement voulu par
Vanessa Branson et par nous
tous, se veut un premier acte
dtablissement dun pont
entre identit et diffrence.
Il sagit ici de crer un lien
qui, comme la dit Heideg-
ger en imaginant son pont
, annule lloignement entre
les choses jusqu crer une
proximit indite.
A une poque o la crise
des modles dans toutes les
disciplines a atteint son pa-
roxysme, je dirais que le mo-
ment est opportun pour cet
vnement qui sera une relle
occasion de rchir ensemble
des sujets qui, par dnition,
chappent notre percep-
tion rductrice des frontires.
La Biennale devra tre, par
consquent, une rencontre
o lchange, le partage et la
prise de contact seront trans-
versaux.
Si le moment est opportun,
le lieu lest encore plus, tant
donn que la ville de Mar-
rakech a t et reste une terre
o se croisent personnes,
marchandises, penses et cr-
dos. Au del de sa situation
gographique, le Maroc puise
volontairement ses rfrences
dans cette diversit culturelle ;
ce pourquoi aujourdhui plus
que jamais, il est question de
spcicit marocaine. Je reste
intimement convaincu que
lors de cette 5
me
Biennale,
nous trouverons en partie
rponse toutes les grandes
interrogations qui font lob-
jet de notre rencontre, les uns
chez les autres. Ainsi sera-t-il
important de se mobiliser au-
tour de la Biennale dArt et
dArchitecture, pour crer des
espaces de dbat tmoignant
de la vivacit de nos cultureset
poser les premiers pas pour
que chacun accde lAutre.
Penser, rchir, changer,
dans diffrents contextes,
nous permettra de briser cette
ide latente en chacun quil
y aurait, dun cot, le Nord
apportant connaissance et
savoir, et de lautre, le Sud
les recevant. Il faut donc b-
tir ce pont qui rduira les
carts et qui nous permettra
dinstaurer ce ux rversible
de connaissances et densei-
gnements. Quand je parle de
ux rversible, je parle dune
approche presque universelle
qui doit tre applique aux
paires moderne-anciens,
technologie-nature, Occi-
131
In light of the interest shown
in this current Biennale, the
question of participation de-
serves our attention, because
it prompts us to dene our au-
dience and to seek the causes
of insufcient attendance.
I want to mention the experi-
ence of Saha Perugini after
her last visit to the Venice
Biennale. Perugini denes
herself as [an] illiterate who
does not understand Con-
temporary Art, because it
has its own grammar, syntax
and linguistic structure that
one must know. She left the
exhibition fascinated by its
content but not knowing how
to read or decipher it. She
says that contemporary art
is intellectual, psychoanalyt-
ic, and meta-referential. In
celebrating this, the Biennale
distances itself from the ordi-
nary spectator, unconcerned
with making a connection
with him or her. I agree with
her so wholeheartedly that,
during our discussions and
up until now, it is precisely
this pointconnecting to and
involving the spectatorthat
has become the driving force
in structuring the program of
the fth edition.
As an architect and citizen
engaged in the not-for-prof-
it and cultural life of Mar-
rakech, I have noted that
Moroccan society today is
going through a palpable
identity crisis that expresses
itself in various ways, most
notably through social ills.
This moment of seeking and
questioning can be only ben-
ecial to our country. It high-
lights a problem that is not
only generational, because it
affects our daily political, so-
cial, economic, and cultural
lives, and embodies a man-
ifestation of contemporary
dilemmas.
As for our relationship as citi-
zens to our cities and homes,
I would like to emphasize that
our traditional and introverted
ways of life have given way
today to their opposites, that
is, to very extroverted ways of
life. This progress shapes our
current approach to building
the city, as architectural pro-
jects occasionally make mis-
steps, through an excess of
aestheticism and insufcient
integration with their cultural,
natural, temporal, and func-
tional environments. A look-
at-me ethos has taken prece-
dence over the discover-me
ethos intrinsic to our cultural
specicity. Today the debate
about the aesthetic of our cit-
ies is happening in cafs and
taxis. When asked, the great
majority of people consider
our architectural urban land-
scape ugly and do not nd it
meets the standards of what
our ancestors bequeathed to
us.
In this context, the Biennale
has come to represent a live-
ly and evolving dynamic, a
regular opportunity for our
approaches and our gazes to
confront the new, the sym-
bol of our times. These bien-
nial meetings will allow us, in
time, to enrich our aesthetic
and visual vocabulary.
Having only one Biennale
is insufcient to achieve
cross-disciplinary pollination.
We must open doors to other
disciplines, and we must con-
sider creating a Marrakech
Biennale of Architecture that
will take place every other
year following the Marrakech
Biennale of Contemporary
Art. This architectural dimen-
sion will allow us to quickly
engage a large public, as
well as institutions that are di-
rectly affected by this theme
(or problematic, to use a term
commonly used today). Archi-
tecturea place of synthesis
where art, society, economy,
and culture nd a common
homewill allow us to better
Afterword
In the Sun under the Shadow of an Olive Tree Karim El Achak
131
dent-Orient , etc. La Bien-
nale de Marrakech est pour
nous une occasion de concr-
tiser, en ce lieu, un mode de
penser.
La 4
me
dition de la Biennale
de Marrakech en 2012, qui a
connu un succs important, a
vu sa frquentation augmen-
ter. Celle-ci reste toutefois
en dessous du potentiel dun
vnement de cette impor-
tance. La question de la par-
ticipation, au vu de l intrt
port cette Biennale, mrite
notre attention car elle nous
pousse dnir notre public
et chercher les causes de sa
prsence insufsante.
Je veux voquer lexprience
de Saha Perugini suite sa
dernire visite de la Biennale
de Venise, elle qui se dnit
comme une analphabte
qui ne comprend pas lArt
Contemporain parce que cet
Art a sa propre grammaire,
syntaxe et structure linguis-
tique quil faut connatre
, est sortie fascine par le
contenu de lvnement mais
sans savoir le lire ou le d-
chiffrer. Elle dit que lart
contemporain est intellectuel,
psychanalytique et mtar-
frentiel. Dans cette clbra-
tion, la Biennale sloigne du
spectateur commun sans se
proccuper de devoir faire ce
rapprochement. . Je partage
tellement avec elle cette opi-
nion que lors de nos discus-
sions et jusqu prsent, cest
ce point prcis du rapproche-
ment et de limplication du
spectateur qui est devenu le
l conducteur pour structurer
notre programmation de la
5
me
Edition.
En tant quarchitecte et ci-
toyen actif dans le monde as-
sociatif et culturel de la ville
de Marrakech, je note que la
socit marocaine traverse au-
jourdhui une phase de crise
identitaire vidente qui sex-
prime sous plusieurs formes,
notamment au travers de v-
ritables malaises sociaux. Ce
moment de recherche et de
questionnement ne peut tre
que salutaire pour notre pays.
Il met en vidence une pro-
blmatique qui nest pas seu-
lement gnrationnelle, car
elle touche notre quotidien
politique, social, conomique
et culturel, et constitue une
manifestation des dilemmes
contemporains.
Concernant notre relation, en
tant que citoyens, nos villes
et notre habitat, je voudrais
souligner que nos modes de
vie traditionnels et introvertis
ont cd la place aujourdhui
leurs opposs, soit des mo-
des de vie trs extravertis.
Cette volution faonne au-
jourdhui notre dmarche
courante dans lacte de btir
la ville, les projets architec-
turaux pchant par moment
par excs desthtisme et in-
sufsance de leur intgration
leur environnement culturel,
naturel, temporel et fonction-
nel. Le regarde-moi pris
le dessus sur des valeurs in-
trinsques notre spcicit
culturelle, qui rsident dans le
processus du dcouvre-moi.
Aujourdhui ce dbat sur
lesthtique de nos villes se
poursuit dans les cafs et les
taxis. Une grande majorit de
personnes interroges consi-
drent laid notre paysage ar-
chitectural et urbain et ne le
trouvent pas la hauteur de
ce que nous ont lgu nos an-
ctres.
Au vu de cette situation, la
Biennale est venue crer une
dynamique vivante et volu-
tive, une occasion rcurrente
de confronter notre approche
et notre regard au nouveau,
limage de notre poque.
Ces rendez-vous, tous les
deux ans, nous permettront,
avec le temps, denrichir notre
vocabulaire esthtique et vi-
suel.
Postface
Au soleil sous lombre dun olivier Karim El Achak
133
understand and assimilate the
role of previous Marrakech
Biennales of Contemporary
Art.
The Biennale must continue
to celebrate its visionary ap-
proach in a specic way: I
insist on this point. We must
arm ourselves with patience
because it takes time before
the content of a biennial has
an impact on the everyday
life of inhabitants. The best
example is Damien Hirsts
skull, produced in 2007, that
has today become a logo
and decorative motif print-
ed everywhere, even on the
clothes sold at the Jamaa El
Fna market alongside slip-
pers and djellabas. Who
would ever have thought such
a thing possible?
Every two years, south of
the Mediterranean, an event
stimulates our imagination
and prompts our reection
through art that speaks, inu-
ences, guides, and recounts
our dreams. With this Bien-
nale, Morocco has taken a
denitive step forward in its
cultural development and
evolution.
As for the Biennale of Archi-
tecture: When? The question
will be at the heart of Mar-
rakech Biennale 5.
Afterword
In the Sun under the Shadow of an Olive Tree Karim El Achak
133
Ainsi, la seule Biennale dArt
nest pas sufsante pour nous
faire atteindre cette contami-
nation transversale ; il faut
absolument ouvrir les portes
dautres disciplines, r-
chir ensemble la cration
dune Biennale dArchitec-
ture qui succdera une anne
sur deux la Biennale dArt
Contemporain. Cette dimen-
sion architecturale permettra
dimpliquer rapidement un
large public et des institutions
qui sont directement touches
par cette thmatique (ou pro-
blmatique, terme commu-
nment utilis aujourdhui).
LArchitecture, lieu de syn-
thse o lart, la socit, lco-
nomie et la culture trouvent
demeure, permettra de mieux
comprendre et assimiler le
rle des dernires Biennales
dArt Contemporain de Mar-
rakech.
La Biennale dArt contem-
porain se doit de continuer
clbrer, dune manire sp-
cique, son approche vision-
naire, jinsiste sur ce point. Il
faut sarmer de patience car il
faut du temps avant que les
contenus dune biennale aient
un impact sur le quotidien
des habitants. Le meilleur
exemple citer serait celui du
crne de Damien Hirst, pro-
duit en 2007, qui est devenu
aujourdhui un logo et un mo-
tif dcoratif quon retrouve
partout imprim sur des v-
tements que les commerants
de Jamaa El Fna vendent avec
les babouches et les djellabas
: qui aurait jamais pens pos-
sible une chose pareille ?
Au sud de la Mditerrane,
tous les deux ans, un v-
nement stimule notre imagi-
nation et notre rexion par
le biais dun Art qui parle,
qui inuence, qui guide et
qui raconte nos aspirations.
Avec cette Biennale, le Ma-
roc a franchi une tape fon-
damentale de son processus
de croissance et dvolution
culturelle.
A quand la Biennale dAr-
chitecture ? Une question qui
sera au menu de cette 5
me
di-
tion.
Postface
Au soleil sous lombre dun olivier Karim El Achak
134 135
Organization
Organisation
Executive Commitee / Comit excutif
Andr Azoulay, Honorary President / Prsident honoraire
Vanessa Branson, President and Founder / Prsidente et fondatrice
Amine Kabbaj, Vice President Executive / Vice-Prsident excutif
Directors / Directeurs
Stefan Holwe, General Director / Directeur gnral
Alya Sebti, Artistic Director / Directrice artistique
Alia Radman, Director of Operations / Directrice des oprations
Marrakech Biennale Board / Comit de la Biennale
France Aline, Art Advisor / Conseillre artistique
Nicolas Carre, Branding Advisor / Consultant de marque
Carson Chan, MB4 Curator / Commissaire MB4
David Knaus, The Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts (MMP+) / le Muse de Photographie et dArts Visuels de Marrakech (MMP+)
Meryanne Loum-Martin, Philanthropist / Philanthrope
Curt Marcus, Art Advisor / Consultant artistique
Mohamed Nait Mbarek, Fondation des Festivals
Prithi Paul, Philanthropist / Philanthrope
Mehdi Qotbi, President of Foundation of Museums / Prsident de la Fondation Nationale des Muses
Nadim Samman, MB4 Curator / Commissaire MB4
Mustafa Zine, Honorary Consul to Monaco / Consul honoraire de Monaco
Artistic Steering Committee / Comit artistique
Livia Alexander, Independent Curator and Arts Management Consultant / Commissaire indpendant et consultant de management artistique
Negar Azimi, Senior Editor of Bidoun Magazine / Rdacteur en chef de Bidoun Magazine
Faouzi Bensaidi, Filmmaker / Cinaste
Omar Berrada, Writer and Co-director of Dar al-Mamun / Auteur et co-directeur de Dar Al- Mamun
Aaron Cezar, Founding Director of Delna Foundation / Directeur et fondateur de Delna Foundation
Shezad Dawood, Artist / Artiste
Phillippe Delis, Architect / Architecte et scnographe
Meryem Jazouli, Choreographer and Founder of Espace Darja / Chorgraphe et fondatrice dEspace Darja
Hassan Hajjaj, Artist / Artiste
Masasam, Curatorial Projects (Co-nalist Marrakech Biennale) / Projets de commissaires (co-naliste de la Biennale de Marrakech)
Juergen Meyer, Artist / Artiste
Simon Njami, Curator and Writer / Commissaire et crivain
Mohamed Rachdi, Head of Mcnat culturel at Socit Gnrale / Prsident du mcnat culturel de la Socit Gnrale
Berenice Saliou, Curator (Co-nalist Marrakech Biennale) / Commissaire dexposition (co-naliste de la Biennale de Marrakech)
Nawal Slaoui, Curator and Founder of Cultures Interfaces / Commissaire et fondatrice de Cultures Interfaces
Ghita Triki, Director of Fondation Actua / Directrice de la fondation Actua
Salma Tuqan, Curator of Victoria & Albert Museum / Commissaire du Victoria &Albert Museum
Curators / Commissaires artistiques
Hicham Khalidi, Visual & Sound Arts Curator / Commissaire dArts Visuels &Sonores
Natasha Hoare, Visual & Sound Arts Assistant Curator / Assistante du commissaire dArts Visuels &Sonores
Samya Abid, Visual & Sound Arts Production Manager / Responsable de production de lexposition dArts Visuels &Sonores

Jamal Abdennassar, Cinema & Video Curator / Commissaire de Cinma &Vido

Driss Ksikes, Literature Curator / Commissaire de Littrature
Khadija Boutaleb, Assistant to Literature / Assistante de Littrature

Khalid Tamer, Performing Arts Curator / Commissaire des Arts Vivants
Claire Le Goff, Assistant to Performing Arts / Assistante des Arts Vivants

Team / quipe
Abdelhamid Bousaadi, Financial Manager / Responsable nancier
Achraf Bendaoud, Photography and Graphic Design (Marrakech) / Photographie et design graphique
Aisha Knidiri, Assistant Producer / Assistante de Production
Ali El Akkad, Project Manager and Education Program / Chef de projet et programme dducation
Amanda Hintz, Berlin Ofce Assistant / Assistante du Bureau de Berlin
Amanda Sarroff, Catalogue Editor / Rdactrice du catalogue
Anas Benhamou, Logistics Assistant / Assistant en logistique
Bart Van Kersavond, Website Programmer / Programmeur du site
Holiday Powers, Artistic Program Coordinator and Parallel Projects / Coordinatrice du programme artistique et des Projets Parallles
Katharina Wenzel, Outreach Coordinator (IFA) / Coordinatrice extrieur (IFA)
Khalid El Markou, Production Coordinator / Coordinateur de production
Lauren Dorman, Marrakech Biennale UK Ofce / Bureau de la Biennale de Marrakech au Royaume-Uni
Luca Bogoni, Abenteuer Design, Visual Identity and Web (Berlin) / Identit visuelle et site web
Maia Holtermann Entwistle, Partner Relations and Education Program / Charge des relations avec les partenaires et programme dducation
Nabil Hamdaoui, Logistics Coordinator / Coordinateur de logistique
Rowan McCuskey, Graphic Designer (Ofcial Catalogue & Indoor Signage) / Designer graphique (catalogue ofciel et signaltique interne)
Salma Berrada, Guest Relations Manager / Manager des relations avec les visiteurs

Press Relations / Relations presse
Helena Straengberg, Bureau N (International)
Silke Neumann, Bureau N (International)
Pascale Hervy, Public Relations (Morocco) / Relations publiques (Maroc)
Johanna Boudinet, Press Coordinator (Morocco) / Coordinatrice presse (Maroc)

Translators / Traducteurs
Abdelkader Loukili, Alexander Toledano, Aya Nabi,
Ayoub El Mouzaine, Cline Curiol, Chlo Tuot,
Farid Zahi, Heba Zohni, Imane Nidae,
Jean-Pierre Massias, Jesse Kirkwood, Jesse Rafert,
Julia Langbein, Matthew Cunningham,
Mohamed El Khadiri, Paul Robion,
Sarah Abdu Abdallah, Sophie Halart,
Youna Kwak

Copyeditors / Relecteurs
Aya Nabi, Chlo Tuot, Tara Cunningham
Publisher / diteur
Jap Sam Books
Interns / Stagiaires
Abdelali Ouakchoum, Bouaissane Mohamed,
Brahim Lafdouk, Dieudonn Mouandza,
Hasna El Filali, Hicham Jarkach, Hind Balalit,
Meriem Mghazli, Nayrouz Ouair, Nouhaila Barida,
Sana Elouazi, Zakaria Kherroubi, Zineb Bouariss
Volunteers / Bnvoles
Ana Raquel Pereira, Claire Wheeler,
Ghizlane Ouazzani
136 137
Acknowledgments
Remerciements
Participants of the Main Program / Participants du programme ofciel
Thank you to all the participants of the main program.
Merci tous les participants du programme ofciel.

Parallel Projects / Projets Parallles
Thank you to all the participants the Parallel Projects.
Merci tous les participants des Projets Parallles.

Biennale TV / Tl de la Biennale
Thank you to all the participants of Biennale TV.
Merci tous les participants de la Tl de la Biennale

Sponsors / Sponsors
City Financial, Fondation Jardin Majorelle, SAHAM Group, Fondation Alliances, JOTUN,
Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts (MMP+), Arabian Wings, Jnan Amar
Polo Resort, ASSOCIATI, El Fenn, Kasbah Tamadot

Media Partners / Partenaires mdia
2M Radio, 2M TV, Assabah, BeitRUKH, Hibrow, Hit Radio, ID Prestige, LEconomiste, La
Nouvelle Tribune, Luxe Radio, Magazine Diptyk, Medi 1, Metropolis, Radio Atlantique,
Radio Mars, Springerin

Partners / Partenaires
The City of Marrakech, Ministry of Culture of Morocco, Ministry of Tourism of Morocco in
London, ONMT, 4 Tomorrow, African Arts Trust, Arabian Wings, Atelier ric van Hove,
Athr Gallery, Atla(s)now, Cafe Clock, Dar al-Mamun, Dar Bellarj, Ecole Superieure des
Arts Visuels, Festival On Marche, Galerie Yakin & Boaz, Himalayas Museum, IFA, Institut
Francais du Maroc, Institut Francais de Marrakech, Instituto Cervantes, Jnane Tamsna, Ka-
marStudios, LAtelier de lObservatoire, La Douiria du Derb El Hammam, Le 18, Maison de
la Photographie, Mamounia, Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts (MMP+),
MINT Collective, Morocco Experiences & Projects, SAHA, Share(d)esign for Sustainable
Development, STUK Art Centre, TransArtists in participation with DutchCulture

Hospitality Partners / Partenaires dhospitalit
Angsana Hotels, Atlas Asni, Atlas Medina, Dar Darma, Dar FakirEl Fenn, Hivernage
Hotel, Hotel Almas, Hotel Amani, Hotel Zalagh, Kenzi Farah Hotel, Kenzi Menara Palace,
LAssociation de lIndustrie Htelire (AIH), La Mamounia, Pure Riads, Riad Cinammon,
Riad Star, Royal Mansour, Sotel, The Pearl, Azyr Caf, Bazaar, Beldi Country Club, Caf
Clock, Cafe de la Poste, Dar Fakir, Henna Caf, Karma Caf, Kechmara, LAvenue, Le
Jardin, Le Salama

Education Partners / Partenaires en ducation
British Council, Cadi Ayyad University, Digital Video Production, ESAV

Travel Partners / Partenaires de voyage
Art & Travel, Boutique Souk, Epic Morocco, Travel Link, Taxi Vert

Gallery Partners / Galeries partenaires
BCK Gallery, Culture Interfaces, Galerie 127, Galerie David Bloch, Galerie Noir Sur
Blanc, Galerie RE, Galerie Shart, Galerie Tindouf, Galerie Yakin & Boaz, Matisse Art
Gallery, Voice Gallery,

Patrons / Mcnes
Ely Michel Ruimy, Emma OHea, Frank Barkow, Howell James, Karen Ruimy, Lisa Zinne,
Maryam Eisler, Moulay Hadh El Alami, Mr and Mrs Petri Vanio, Nicoletta Fiorucci, Patrick
Spillman, Priti Paul, The Kirsh Foundation, Wendy Fisher
Special Thanks / Remerciements
Alan Yentob, Alessa Herbosch, Amit Chaudhuri, Angelika Stepken, Aniko Boehler,
Anthony Horowitz, Axel Schmitt, Barrak Alzaid, Benedicte Clarkson, Damien Tissot, Dave
Calhoun, Don Boyd, Elke Aus dem Moore, Eric van Hove, Faycal Alaoui, Hamza Sera,
Hassan Darsi, Hassan Hajjaj, Henry Bennett, Hilary Boyd, Hind Bensari, Iris Lenz, Jessica
Bannister, Julien Temple, Katrine Boorman, Kerryn Greenberg, Mahi Binebine, Malika
Chaghal, Cinmathque de Tanger, Matthew Bannister, Michele Cohen, Mostafa Aghrib,
Nabil Ayouch, Pierre Antoine, Pierre Robion, Rocco Orlacchio, Rupert Everett, Salaheddine
Naciri, Sherine Tohamy, Stephen Frears, Touria El Glaoui, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi,
Yasmina Reggad, Wafa Guebsi, Zineb Sedira
Partners / Partenaires Partners / Partenaires
141
Le Muse de la Photographie et des Arts Vi-
suels de Marrakech (MMP+) est consacr
lexposition des meilleurs photographes ma-
rocains, nord-africains et internationaux, ain-
si quaux beaux-arts traditionnels. Ouvert en
septembre 2013, il est abrit temporairement
au Palais Badii pendant la construction du
btiment du muse permanent. Le MMP+ au
Palais Badii offre un ventail dexpositions
riche et complet : programmes ducationnels,
changes culturels et sensibilisation. Fonc-
tionnant comme un espace projet, le site du
Palais est un laboratoire vivant pour le dve-
loppement des programmes et des expositions
qui auront lieu dans le btiment permanent,
une fois termin. Le Muse de la Photographie
et des Arts Visuels de Marrakech disposera de
plus de 6 000 m
2
; son architecture nouvelle
et remarquable est conue par le clbre archi-
tecte anglais Sir David Chippereld, et le muse
va slever tout prs des jardins historiques de
la Mnara Marrakech. Marrakech, situe au
cur du Maroc, reoit quelque 9 millions de
visiteurs internationaux chaque anne et ac-
cueille la fois le Festival international du lm
et la Biennale de Marrakech. Une fois termin,
le MMP+ abritera des galeries, un thtre, un
caf, une bibliothque, des espaces publics et
de nombreux quipements ducatifs autant
dlments qui font de ce projet un muse in-
novant. Le MMP+ sera lpicentre culturel de
la rgion ; son emplacement sera le cur dune
toile multi-point attirant les chercheurs, les
tudiants et les visiteurs du monde entier.
The Marrakech Museum for Photography and
Visual Arts (MMP+) is dedicated to exhibiting
the best Moroccan, North African, and inter-
national lens-based and traditional ne art.
Opened in September 2013, the Palais Badii
is its temporary home while the permanent mu-
seum building is under construction. MMP+ at
Palais Badii has a rich, full program of exhibi-
tions, education, cultural exchange, and out-
reach. Functioning as a project space, the
Palais Badii site is a vibrant laboratory for the
development of programs and exhibitions that
will be hosted once the permanent building is
completed. The Marrakech Museum for Pho-
tography and Visual Arts will be housed in a
6,000+ m
2
new, architecturally distinct build-
ing designed by renowned architect Sir David
Chippereld, and the museum will sit adjacent
to Marrakechs historic Menara Gardens.
Marrakech, located in the heart of Morocco,
hosts a vast and diverse pool of some 9 million
international visitors annually, and is the home
of both the Marrakech International Film Festi-
val and the Marrakech Biennale. When com-
pleted, MMP+ will house galleries, a theater,
caf, bookshop, public spaces, and extensive
educational facilitiesall of the components
that create a lively, innovative museum pro-
ject. MMP+ will be a cultural epicenter in the
region; its location will serve as the heart of
a multi-point star, drawing scholars, students,
and visitors from around the world.
MMP+ MMP+

H
i
c
h
a
m

B
e
n
o
h
o
u
d

S
a
n
s

T
i
t
r
e
,

t
i
r

d
e

l
a

s
r
i
e

l
a

s
a
l
l
e

d
e

c
l
a
s
s
e
El Badia Palace, Ksibet Nhas
4000 Marrakech, Morocco
near Place des Ferblantier
tel. +212 524 387 170
info@mmpva.org
www.mmpva.org
www.facebook.com/mmpva
www.instagram.com/mmpva
www.twitter.com/mmpvamarrakech
The Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts
Le Muse de la Photographie et des Arts Visuels de Marrakech

142

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