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Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

Moroccan Trilogy, 2021
 

Moroccan Trilogy 1950 - 2020

Reina Sofia, Madrid

March 31 – September 27, 2021

Curators: Abdellah Karroum, Manuel Borja-Villel


Artists: Mohamed Abouelouakar, Etel Adnan, Mohamed Afifi, Malika Agueznay, Mustapha Akrim, Ahmed Amrani, Mohamed Ataallah, Yassine Balbzioui, Yto Barrada, Farid Belkahia, Fouad Bellamine, Baghdad Benas, Hicham Benohoud, Ahmed Bouanani, Mustapha Boujemaoui, Mohamed Chabâa, Ahmed Cherkaoui, Mohamed Choukri, Hassan Darsi, Bachir Demnati, Mostafa Derkaoui, Mohamed Drissi, Moulay Ahmed Drissi, André Elbaz, Mohamed El Baz, Khalil El Ghrib, Badr El Hammami, Touhami Ennadre, Safaa Erruas, Ali Essafi, Ymane Fakhir, Mounir Fatmi, Jilali Gharbaoui, Souad Guennoun, Mustapha Hafid, Mohamed Hamidi, Mohssin Harraki, Fatima Hassan, Soukaina Joual, Mohamed Kacimi, Maria Karim, Leila Kilani, Faouzi Laatiris, Miloud Labied, Mohammed Laouli, Randa Maroufi, Najia Mehadji, Mohamed Melehi, Abderrahman Meliani, Houssein Miloudi, Mohamed Mrabet, Sara Ouhaddou, Rachid Ouettassi, Bernard Plossu, Karim Rafi, Mohamed Larbi Rahhali, Younes Rahmoun, Abbas Saladi, Tayeb Saddiki, Chaïbia Talal, Latifa Toujani
 
 

Moroccan Trilogy 1950-2020 articulates a visual dialogue that reflects artistic production at three historical moments from independence to the present day. It does so through a significant selection of artworks that show the diversity of initiatives, the vitality of artistic debate and the interdisciplinary exchanges to be found in Morocco.

 

This exhibition falls within the area of decolonial research, one of the central focuses of the Museum’s programming. It is a first attempt to broaden the focus of these analyses by turning the gaze onto the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the cradle of western civilization, and more specifically onto Morocco, an ancient country just 14 kilometers away from Spain.

 

The show has been organized within the framework of the program for cultural cooperation between Spain and Morocco in the field of Museums, an initiative fostered by the National Foundation of Museums of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Government of Spain, in collaboration with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar. Moroccan Trilogy 1950-2020 offers an account of artistic experiences in Morocco from the mid-20th century onwards, focusing particularly on the three urban centers of Tétouan, Casablanca and Tangier. The works on show, produced between 1950 and 2020, combine with archive documents to illustrate a history of profuse cultural effervescence.

 

The exhibition shows the diversity of artistic expression in modern Morocco, highlighting the key figures of each period from the transition to independence (1950-1969) to the so-called ‘Years of Lead’ (1970-1999), and from then to the present day (2000-2020).

 

After forty years under the French and Spanish protectorate, the first period covers an extremely agitated phase that extends from the years of independence until 1969. During that time, the artistic field was articulated around the debates aroused by the appearance of the nationalist movement and the imperious need to construct a discourse of identity. These two aspects made up the conceptual background to modern Moroccan art in the 1960s and 1970s, when artists started to question the traditional artistic academicism transmitted through art teaching in Morocco.

 

After studying and training in the world’s principal artistic capitals, the first generation of Moroccan artists became impregnated with the theoretical debates then in vogue internationally. They later adopted abstraction as a means of expression suited to their national vindications and anxieties over their identity.

In this way, many artists who had started by studying at local art schools broke radically with the academic knowledge they had acquired during their training in Morocco and went to continue their studies in Europe and the United States. After their return to Morocco, artists like Mohamed Melehi, Mohamed Chabâa with Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Hamidi, Mohamed Ataallah and Mustapha Hafid profoundly transformed Moroccan artistic education at the School of Fine Arts in Casablanca, which soon helped to open up the country’s art to modernity with projects that combined craftsmanship with innovative artistic forms.

 

At the same time, the city of Tangier became a cosmopolitan center and a meeting place for the beat generation. From Mohamed Choukri’s relationship with that environment came one of the starkest autobiographical narratives in Moroccan literature. During the same period, the magazine Souffles, edited by the poet Abdellatif Laâbi, opened the debate on history and the new social realities. This publication, which was born in reaction to the armed repression of the student revolt of 1965, very soon became a sounding box for critical discourse and political action.

 

In the second phase, years of great internal conflict, there emerged a constellation of alternative publications, festivals and biennials, often independent. The voice of dissidence, especially active in literature, poetry and theatre, was spread through the magazine Souffles until it was banned in 1972, and after that through Intégral and Lamalif. Also appearing in that period is a non-academic and non-intellectualized art represented by self-taught men and women with links to a living artistic dynamism, as in the case of Chaïbia Talal and Fatima Hassan.

 

In the late 1980s, a new contemporary trend began to establish itself on the Moroccan art scene. Adopting new artistic approaches, it crystallized in the 1990s with artists like Mohamed El Baz, Mounir Fatmi and Yto Barrada.

 

In the last years of the 1990s, Morocco went through its transition to democracy, when some signs of openness in the media started to appear.

The last section of the exhibition, which covers the years 2000 to 2020, shows the work of a generation of young artists who broke off from the past on the formal, technical, symbolic and political planes of art. This generation frequented alternative venues where artists made contact on the fringes of the conventional circuits. It moreover included a large number of woman artists whose works often arouse critical reflection on feminine identity in the specific context of Moroccan society.

 

Each of these periods, with its formal tendencies, its ideological issues and its historical accidents, has led to gestures of significance for the next generations. The exhibition Moroccan Trilogy 1950-2020 is a study of the artistic heritage of Morocco since the post-independence period and an analysis of its contemporary production. Through its diversity of representational forms, the active role of art in its multiple manifestations is reaffirmed with respect to the individual and society, beyond any notion of moral or ideological centrality. What art teaches us is the possibility of giving sense, imagining justice and seeking cultural, social and human progress. This segment of Morocco’s history can help us understand its present and reflect on its future.

 

Madrid, March 2021

 
Solo shows (selection)
 
2023
L'appartement 22 2023Piero Atchugarry Gallery 2023
Baró Galeria 2023
2022
Wilde Gallery 2022Ceysson & Bénétière 2022
Musée La Kasbah 2022Es Baluard Museu 2022
2021
Conrads Gallery 2021Officine dell'Immagine 2021
ADN 2021
2019
Skanstull Metro Station 2019Analix Forever 2019
Ceysson & Bénétière 2019Wilde Gallery 2019
2018
CDAN 2018Göteborgs Konsthall 2018
2017
Art Front Gallery 2017Officine dell'Immagine 2017
Galerie De Multiples 2017Analix Forever Gallery 2017
Jane Lombard Gallery 2017Galerie Delacroix 2017
Goodman Gallery 2017Lawrie Shabibi 2017
Analix Forever Gallery 2017Maisons des Arts du Grütli 2017
2016
ADN Platform 2016Keitelman Gallery 2016
Labanque 2016MMP+ 2016
2015
MAMCO 2015MIAMIBUS 2015
Analix Forever 2015
2014
CCC Tours 2014ADN Galeria 2014
ADN Platform 2014Analix Forever 2014
Yvon Lambert 2014
2013
Museum Kunst Palast 2013Keitelman Gallery 2013
Paradise Row 2013Institut Français de Casablanca 2013
Galerie Fatma Jellal 2013Analix Forever 2013
2012
Goodman Gallery 2012Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2012
Lombard-Fried Projects 2012
2011
Galerie Conrads 2011Fondazione Collegio San Carlo 2011
Galerie Hussenot 2011AKBank Sanat 2011
2010
Galerie Hussenot 2010
2009
Galerie Conrads 2009FRAC Alsace 2009
2008
Galerie Delacroix IFM 2008Creux de l'enfer 2008
2007
Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten 2007Musée national Pablo Picasso 2007
Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2007La maison rouge 2007
Lombard Freid projects 2007
2006
Bank galerie 2006
2005
CAC d'Istres 2005
2004
Espace des arts Colomiers 2004 CAC Le Parvis 2004
2003
Migros museum 2003
 
Biennials, Triennials (selection)
 
2022
Setouchi Triennale 2022
2020
Altai Biennale 2020
2019
Setouchi Triennale 2019SCREEN IT - Stadstriennale Hasselt Genk 5 2019
2018
13eme Biennale de Dakar 20187th Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale 2018
1er Biennale de Rabat 2018
2017
57th Venice Biennale 20177eme Biennale Architecture, Shenzhen 2017
11eme Biennale de Bamako 201715eme Biennale d'art contemporain Alios! 2017
2016
Biennale Poznan 2016Setouchi Triennale 2016
2015
10èmes Rencontres de Bamako 20155th Thessaloniki Biennale 2015
16th Media art Biennale Wro 20151st Trio Biennale, Rio de Janeiro 2015
2nd Bodrum Biennial 2015
2014
Fotofest Biennial 2014
2013
5th Auckland Triennial 2013White House Biennial 2013
2012
10th Dakar Biennial 2012Manif d'Art 6 2012
2011
3rd Thessaloniki Biennial 201111th Lyon Biennial 2011
54th Venice Biennial 2011
2010
XIIth Cairo Biennial 20101st Mediterranean Biennial of Haifa 2010
Port Izmir 2, international triennial of contemporary art 20109th Dakar Biennial 2010
Biennale Cuvée 2010
2009
Xth Lyon Biennial 2009Art Tel Aviv 2009
9èmes Rencontres de Bamako 2009
2008
1st Brussels Biennial 2008Pontevedra Biennial 2008
2007
24th Biennial Memorial of Nadezda Petrovic 20071st Luanda Triennial 2007
52th Venice Biennial 20078th Sharjah Biennial 2007
2004
Gwangju biennial 2004
2006
2nd Seville Biennial 20067th Dakar Biennial 2006
2000
4th Dakar Biennial 2000
1999
7th Biennal Art Media 1999
 
Group shows (selection)
 
2023
Pola Museum 2023museum in progress 2023
2022
UB Art Galleries 2022Fondation Boghossian 2022
Cobra Museum 2022
2021
Brooklyn Museum 2021Fondation Boghossian 2021
Museo Reina Sofía 2021Iselp 2021
Es Baluard 2021
2020
Fondation Boghossian 2020La Galerie 38 2020
Sala de la Provincia de la Diputacion 2020MOCAK 2020
Ceysson & Bénétière 2020Goodman Gallery 2020
Palais de Tokyo 2020American University in Cairo 2020
Musée des Confluences 2020
2019
Fondation Boghossian 2019MAMA 2019
Ceysson & Bénétière 2019Maison Populaire 2019
Bedford Gallery 2019 Evliyagil Museum 2019
Jane Lombard 2019James Cohan 2019
2018
Mathaf 2018MACAAL 2018
Fondation Boghossian 2018Sammlung Philara 2018
Nasher Museum of Art 2018Ellen Noël Art Museum 2018
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea 2018MOCAK 2018
Bozar Center for fine arts 2018Philharmonie de Paris 2018
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 2018Goodman Gallery 2018
Institut Français de Saint Louis 2018Pensacola Museum of Art 2018
Von der Heydt-Kunsthalle 2018
2017
Gifu Museum 2017Huntsville Museum of Art 2017
Bandjoun Station 2017Institut des Cultures d’Islam 2017
Bellevue Arts Museum 2017Mudac 2017
Primo Marella Gallery 2017Goodman Gallery 2017
MACAAL 2017Museum De Wieger 2017
Conrads Gallery 2017Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière 2017
Keitelman Gallery 2017Musée du Pays de Hanau 2017
Château de Servières 2017CEAA 2017
Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2017H&R Block Artspace 2017
2016
Bedford Gallery 2016Beijing Today Art Museum 2016
Hôtel des Arts 2016Museum of Old and New Art 2016
Labanque 2016Les Photaumnales 2016
Al Maaden 2016Kunsthalle Faust 2016
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg 2016Archives Nationales 2016
Bardo National Museum 2016Arles 2016
Musée d'Art Moderne de Troyes 2016Rotor 2016
Goodman Gallery 2016Musée Bartholdi 2016
Institut d’Art Contemporain 2016Santander Art Gallery 2016
Brandts & Viborg Kunsthal 2016
2015
Fondazione VIDEOINSIGHT 2015A Tale of a Tub 2015
Contemporary Istanbul 2015ADMAF 2015
Goodman Gallery 2015Keitelman Gallery 2015
Galeria Municipal do Porto 2015Fabra i Coats 2015
AMOCA 2015Monastère Royal de Brou 2015
CAC La Traverse 2015FRAC Franche-Comté 2015
ZKM 2015The National Library 2015
Station 2015La FabriC - Fondation Salomon 2015
Van Abbemuseum 2015The Brooklyn Museum 2015
MMP+ 2015Sharjah Museum 2015
Kamel Lazaar Foundation 2015Sextant & + 2015
2014
Gwangju Museum of Art 2014QAGOMA 2014
N.B.K. 2014CAyT Centro de Arte y Technologia 2014
Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery 2014Station 2014
Institut du Monde Arabe 2014Art Gallery of Western Australia 2014
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art 2014Palais de Tokyo 2014
2013
L'art dans les chapelles 2013MAD Museum 2013
Marseille - Provence 2013V&A Museum 2013
30 ans des FRAC 2013MAC Marseille 2013
MAXXI 2013
2012
Museu de Arte Moderna de Salvador de Bahia 2012Institut du Monde Arabe 2012
Edge of Arabia 2012Apexart 2012
B.P.S. 22 2012Dorsky Gallery 2012
International Center of Graphic Arts 2012
2011
Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art 2011Fondation Blachère 2011
Brooklyn Museum 2011Dublin Contemporary 2011
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts 2011Museum on the Seam 2011
Tri Postal Lille 2011Meeting Point 6 2011
2010
The New School 2010Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil 2010
Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2010Aargauer Kunsthaus 2010
KAdE 2010Kunst Museum Bochum 2010
Moscow museum of modern art 2010Art Gallery of Ontario 2010
2009
Fondation Gulbenkian 2009Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2009
Beirut Art Center 2009Salina Art Center 2009
2008
Kunstverein Medienturm Ilz 2008Te Papa museum 2008
Studio Museum Harlem 2008Haus der Kunst 2008
Centre Pompidou 2008CAAM 2008
Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2008
2007
Johannesburg Art Gallery 2007
2006
CAC Le Parvis 2006CAPC musée d'art contemporain 2006
Bank Galerie 2006Les Abattoirs 2006
Moderna museet 2006Mori art museum 2006
2005
Wereldmuseum 2005Centre Pompidou 2005
The Stenersen Museum 2005Saw gallery 2005
Konstmuseum 2005Hayward Gallery 2005
2004
Museum Kunst Palast 2004Tri Postal Lille 2004
2003
2nd international contemporary art meeting 2003
2002
Espacio C 2002
1999
O.N.A. Foundation 1999CAC Castres 1999
Musée des beaux-arts de Dôle 1999Musée des arts décoratifs 1999
 
 
Public Space Projects (selection)
 
2015
Metavilla Collateral Project to the 12th Havana Biennial
Prison Qara Meknès Art Paris
2014
Analix Forever
2013
Sculpture Beach Art Dubai
2012
Le Printemps de Septembre Narracje 4
2010
Ivry FIAC Tuileries
2004
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt