Mohamed El Mahdaoui
His project at the gates of Tétouan’s medina: Performance, painting, and socially engaged practice.
For an optimal view of our website, please rotate your tablet horizontally.
The artist, who decided to perform at the seven gates of the medina over a period of seven days, that is, one gate per day, allotted to each gate a pot, whose size symbolises the importance of the gate in the 18th century, the golden age of Tétouan. He says, "The pots allude to the gates of the medina. Their sizes depend on an estimate of the number of people who used to cross these thresholds on an average day in the 18th century. They also hint at the various functions of the doors, because some of them used to be much busier than others. I wanted to symbolise the passage of people through the gates and the idea of unrelenting flows and increasing population by the releasing of drops. That is why each person crossing a door is represented by a drop of water."
© Photo: Khalid El Bastrioui
His project at the gates of Tétouan’s medina: Performance, painting, and socially engaged practice.