24 February – 16 June 2024

Al Hamriyah Studios and Old Al Diwan Al Amiri
Emirate of Sharjah, UAE
Location, contacts

Curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet for Zamân Books & Curating, with 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.

Organised by Sharjah Art Foundation and Tate St Ives in collaboration with Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

Platform 0: Beginnings presents the emergence of the 'Casablanca Trio', Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa and Mohamed Melehi, whose works offered an alternative to state-organised exhibitions, empowering Moroccan artists and challenging colonial norms.

Platform 1: Creating Collectively (1968) consists of collaborative works, created by pioneering students under the leadership of director Farid Belkahia and teachers including Mohamed Melehi and Mohammed Chabâa, that marked a transformative 'new wave' in Moroccan art.

Platform 2: Making Art Public (1969) depicts the story behind the street exhibition Présence Plastique, initiated by Casablanca Art School artists, to protest against the state-organised Salon du Printemps [spring fair], a colonial relic that categorised Moroccan artists as ‘naïve’ painters.

Platform 3: Pan Arab Solidarity (1974-1979) features artworks such as the official poster design for the International Art Exhibition for Palestine in Beirut in 1978, demonstrating collective resistance as well as fostering artistic and political solidarity across independent Arab nations.

Platform 4: Open Air Museum (1978-ongoing) illustrates the transformation of northern Morocco into an open-air museum with outdoor exhibitions, murals and live performances, as envisioned by the Cultural Moussem of Asilah festival founders Mohamed Melehi and Mohamed Benaïssa in 1978. Continuing to democratise art as part of Casablanca Art School’s legacy, the annual event invites international artists to bring contemporary arts to the community.

Installation view: Sharjah Art Foundation, 2024. Photo: Shanavas Jamaluddin

The exhibition also unveils three distinct themes:

Pattern 1: Afro-Amazigh Heritage showcases the art school’s collaborative approach under the influence of tutor Bert Flint that led to the revival of rural rugs and jewellery as teaching tools.

Pattern 2: Design for Everyday presents the integration of art and craft and architecture by the artist students in collaboration with architectural studio Faraoui and de Mazières wherein they created a vision for public art and transformed neglected spaces and districts.

Pattern 3: Graphic Design underscores how the art school leveraged graphic design as an accessible form of painting for the public, deloconising and democratising Moroccan arts from 1966 to 1972.

Abdelkrim Ghattas: Untitled, 1977
Installation view: Sharjah Art Foundation, 2024. Photo: Motaz Mawid

The artworks included in the exhibition are by the following artists:

Carla Accardi, Malika Agueznay, Hamid Alaoui, Mohamed Ataallah, Herbert Bayer, Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa, Saâd Ben Cheffaj, Ahmed Cherkaoui, André Elbaz, Abdellah El Hariri, Abdelkrim Ghattas, Mustapha Hafid, Anna Draus-Hafid, Mohamed Hamidi, Mohammed Kacimi, Miloud Labied, Mohamed Melehi, Houssein Miloudi, Abderrahman Rahoule and Chaïbia Tallal.

Organised by Sharjah Art Foundation and Tate St Ives in collaboration with Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, the exhibition is curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet for Zamân Books & Curating, with 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.

The exhibition is also part of a key moment of international research into the Casablanca Art School, 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.

Installation view: Sharjah Art Foundation, 2024. Photo: Motaz Mawid

Media contact:
Alyazeyah Al Marri - Email
+971-6-544-4113, ext. 25

From press information.
Cover photo: The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962–1987). Installation view: Sharjah Art Foundation, 2024. Photo: Shanavas Jamaluddin