South media sponsor: Where Are We Now?, Marrakech Biennale 5, Marrakech (Photo Diary)
A view of the souk in the Medina
South media sponsor: Where Are We Now?, Marrakech Biennale 5, Marrakech (Photo Diary)
Where are we now?
Various venues, Marrakech, Morocco
26 February – 31 March, 2014
A view of Palais Badii, one of the venues of Marrakech Biennale 5
Marrakech Biennale’s artistic director, Alya Sebti, and the curator of the visual arts section, Hicham Khalidi, gave a guided tour of the Palais Badii
Palais Badii is one of the venues where Marrakech Biennale 5 takes place. A five hundred year-old palace, also hosting the MMP+ Museum, where every work is surrounded by a peaceful and spacious environment filled with ancient memories, orange trees, and white storks. An exquisitely Moroccan marvel!
Katinka Bock, Red, red, red, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale. Courtesy of the artist and Meyer-Riegger
The work Red, red, red, by Katinka Bock is an oven built around another oven. A reflection on traditional Moroccan customs, the oven is made of raw clay, a material that until is fired can be reverted to its original form.
Can & Asli Altay, An Archipelago from the Mediterranean, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
Can & Asli Altay realized a tailor-made poster campaign for the Marrakech Biennale tackling issues of public space and communication. Their work reflect on the status of the Mediterranean, a rich and troubled territory that connects and separates different cultures, by proposing an archipelago of inland water-islands.
Mustapha Akrim, Tow Power, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
The work by Mustapha Akrim, Tow power, addresses the complex relationships between money and religion with the enlarged sculptural representation of an old moroccan coin bearing a Koranic text.
Asim Waqif, The Pavilion of Debris, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
Asim Waqif, The Pavilion of Debris, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
Asim Waqif realised an architectural intervention which is animated, thanks to a series of microphones, by the passage of viewers. The work, commissioned by Marrakech Biennale 5, is made with salvaged materials found in the same venue where it is installed.
Cevdet Erek, Courtyard Ornamentation with Sounding Dots and a Prison, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
The sound installation by Cevdet Erek, Courtyard Ornamentation with Sounding Dots and a Prison, is an intriguing architectural intervention that maps the space of Palais Badii through acoustic means. A series of speakers, located in a large area of the Palais Badii, produce an incessant sequence of dot-sounds, which can be heard all together from a unique listening position under the shade of a tent.
Max Boufathal, Madonna 207, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
Max Boufathal, Les Serments de Democrite, 2013
Two works by Max Boufathal: a complicated crossbow to kill the pop star Madonna and a linoleum mask referring to the oath of Democritus.
Kader Attia, Political Anthropology, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
The work of Kader Attia is the result of a research on the Rif mountains independence movement, which was repressed during the French protectorate of Morocco in the twenties. Collaborating with local Moroccan craftsmen, Attia retrace the past of marginal Moroccan history with the creation of new hybrid objects and musical instruments.
Gabriel Lester, MurMurMure, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale. Courtesy of the artist, Gallery Fons Welters and Leo Xu Projects
Gabriel Lester’s MurMurMure interprets the venue of the Dar Si Said Museum turning upside-down the notion of display: the notion of the vitrine and the aura of the museum display is here challenged by a performance-gig where the visitor can see traditional instruments as they are played by faceless musicians hiding behind a wall.
Jelili Atiku, I Will Not Stroll With Thami El Glaoui, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale
With the performance I Will Not Stroll With Thami El Glaoui, the cultural richness of Berber traditions, rituals and symbols are synthesized by Jelili Attiku into a performance in Jamaa El Fna square, the most lively public space in Marrakech.
Shezad Dawood, Towards the Possible Films, 2014, commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Delfina Foundation
Shezad Dawood, Towards the Possible Films, 2014, commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Delfina Foundation
Two stills from the film by Shezad Dawood, Towards the Possible Film. Thanks to the immediate structure of the filmic narration, the artist elaborates on the human implications of episodes of encounter in liminal territories. Shot near the southern border of Morocco, the film addresses issues related to the Berber language and its script as well as it portraits the landscape of an area that is strongly characterized by the coexistence of different cultures.
Keren Cytter, Sirens, 2014, commissioned by the 5th Edition of the Marrakech Biennale. Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Nagel Draxler and Pilar Corrias, London
Keren Cytter’s work, Sirens, in the venue of the historical Bank Al Maghrib. The images, shot through phone cameras, Skype, and computer screen captures, manipulates images of the artist’s life in a web-based narration.
A courtyard in Riad El Fenn
The courtyard of Riad El Fenn, a sophisticated and typical Moroccan location for many talks, performances and other appointments of the Biennale.
Michelangelo Corsaro
