Calling all arts and culture lovers and Sharjah Art Foundation regulars. You’ll be excited to know that a new exhibition of works from Morocco has joined the already incredible line-up at Sharjah Art Foundation
The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962–1987) exhibition has now opened in Sharjah. It is available for viewing until June 16 at Al Hamriyah Studios and Old Al Diwan Al Amiri in Al Hamriyah.
Wondering what to expect?
After Morocco gained independence in 1956, the Casablanca Art School (CAS) played a significant role in an artistic revolution. The staff and students of CAS combined abstract art with traditional African and Amazigh elements, drawing inspiration from the region’s rugs, jewellery, calligraphy, and painted ceilings.
They used their multicultural heritage to integrate art into everyday life, using paintings, posters, magazines, outdoor murals, and street festivals. This Moroccan ‘new wave’ led to a social and urban movement and eventually led to artistic solidarities between Latin America, West Asia, and Africa.
Today, an exhibition called The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962-1987) showcases a unique vision for modern life pioneered by five CAS artists and teachers, including Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa, Bert Flint, Toni (Antonella) Maraini, and Mohamed Melehi.
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Informally called the Casablanca Group (or Casa Group), this legendary Moroccan art collective grew to include more members and is seen as a ‘constellation’ of artists. Prepare to be wowed as the exhibition will showcase artworks by more than 20 CAS artist-activists from across generations.
You can explore vibrant abstract paintings and urban murals as well as crafts, typography, graphics and interior design, which are displayed alongside rarely-seen print archives, vintage journals, photography and film.
The Sharjah Art Foundation, in collaboration with Tate St Ives and Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, recently held a successful presentation in St Ives. The Sharjah iteration of the exhibition includes 44 additional works and archival pieces, as well as two new sections. One section is dedicated to the Galerie l’Atelier, which was the first contemporary art gallery in Morocco. The other pays homage to the High Atlas mountain region and its rich Amazigh heritage, which influenced the school.
The exhibition is curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet for Zamân Books & Curating, Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, May Alqaydi, Assistant Curator of Sharjah Art Foundation, and associate researchers Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa and Maud Houssais are also involved in the project.
The exhibition is also part of an international research project initiated in 2020 by the KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Sharjah Art Foundation, in partnership with Goethe-Institut Marokko, ThinkArt and Zamân Books & Curating.
This project aims to explore the Casablanca Art School in-depth and provide a comprehensive understanding of its influence on contemporary art.
Aside from this must-visit exhibition, you can also view more than 60 artworks by artists from Palestine and its neighbouring countries at the special exhibition In the eyes of our present, we hear Palestine on view at Old Al Dhaid Clinic and Arts Palace (Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Palace) in Al Dhaid.
Fans of Ethiopian art can check out works by Henok Melkamzer with his first international solo exhibition and his largest presentation to date: Telsem Symbols and Imagery. Last but not least, you can discover decades of Lala Rukh’s art practice at the exhibition titled In the Round situated at Al Mureijah Art Spaces. Already making plans to visit soon? Entry is free but bookings are required. Buy your tickets and book your spot here.
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