The contemporary art scene in North Africa is booming with artists committed to creating unconventional, innovative and critical works while experimenting with different mediums and starting stimulating conversations about public issues.
From the suppression and eventual revival of the art scene in Tunisia to the redefinition of contemporary art in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco; North African artists have found a way to explore the process of creating art as an act of survival, expression and questioning.
With the attention and recognition these artists are getting for their work in their home country and internationally, we’d like to spotlight 5 artists from North Africa to watch out for.
Younes Baba-Ali
Younes Baba-Ali (b. 1986) is a visual and sound artist from Morocco. He is known for his unconventional and experimental way of making art in public spaces, especially unusual spaces. With his art, Baba-Ali approaches routes and patterns of migration in order to uncover covert systems of knowledge and meaning.
Through his use of different visual tools such as installation, photography, new media, technologies, interventions and sound, his work focuses on examining political, social and ecological issues. He divides his time and hybrid studio practice between Morocco and Europe.
“My art finds its rationale in the society it emerges from. That’s its ground and its subject. I function as a mediator, as a philosopher who shares a form of awareness with others. I measure the temperature of society and contribute to its interpretation and development.”
- Younes Baba-Ali.
You can find Younes Baba-Ali on Instagram at younes.babaali.
Hassan Hajjaj
Hassan Hajjaj (b. 1961) is a Moroccan contemporary artist who lives and works between London, UK and Marrakesh. He is known for his photography, printed fabrics, and films. Hajjaj’s most famous work is his photography which was inspired by Pop Art, fashion, and Malian portrait photographer, Malick Sidibe.
Although Hajjaj is known for his creative ability to combine and make use of different elements from Moroccan and pop culture in references together in his art, he is also known for deconstructing the “tourist gaze that fetishizes veiled women” by subverting the Western viewer’s expectations.
With brightly-lit patterns and framing, Hajjaj’s photographs do the work of illustrating the complications of his cultural identity and the multidimensional aspects of Moroccan society.
You can find Hassan Hajjaj on Instagram at hassanhajjaj_larache.
Thameur Mejri
Image courtesy: Wikipedia
Tunisian artist, Thameur Mejri (b. 1982) is known for his ability to draw comparisons between the complexities of human nature such as violence, innocence, guilt and shame.
He makes use of vivid and clashing combinations of color, form, and line, to represent the discord of themes like morality, religion, bigotry, violence, war, among others to uncover truths.
His work is centered around human figures, and supported by familiar objects that hold symbolic weight, like television sets, weapons, and microphones.
Mejri also uses his work to offer critiques and start conversations on the social issues and politics of his home country, Tunisia.
“I use symbols to question power and authority and to understand people’s behavior, reactions and fears when confronted to the unusual and awkward environment emerging from the scenes of the paintings.”
- Thameur Mejri.
You can find Thameur Mejri at thameur_mejri.
Laila Hida
Laila Hida was born (1983) in Casablanca in 1983. She is a self-taught photographer and cultural activist, engaged in matters such as education, women condition and urban transformations in Morocco. Through her photography, she explores unnegotiated spaces, social practices, as well as the idea of transformation as a constant.
Hida takes a conceptual approach to photography, using images to interrogate the ever-changing nature of life.
She founded LE 18, Derb el Ferrane, a multidisciplinary art space with the mission of connecting artists, curators, researchers, and the neighborhood in order to create and reflect on art and society.
“One of the benefits of practicing photography is growing to be a good observer. One starts handling all sorts of choices with care: find the right format, selecting the best language to deliver a message, clearly defining the purpose of an action, etc.”
- Laila Hida.
You can find Laila Hida on Instagram at laila_in_transition.
Mouna Karray
Mouna Karray (b. 1970) is a Tunisian visual artist who works with photography, videos and sound installations to play with metaphysical questions like identity, sameness and difference, and memory.
With her use of diverse mediums, her work questions identities, borders, confinement and forgotten terrains. She focuses on political messaging, as well as the interconnectedness of her experiences as a woman, an Arab, and a Tunisian.
Her work is a reflection of her relationship with her immediate environment. To give a glimpse of the stories she seeks to tell with her photography, she addresses political and socio-economic matters by documenting objects, landscapes and people that have been neglected or abandoned.
You can find Mouna Karray on Instagram at mounakarray_studio.
