Category Archives: Marrakech

The Best Street Art in Marrakech

The Moroccan city of Marrakech has stood for close to a thousand years, a city of history and culture. Also known as the Red City, Marrakech is one of the most evocative places in the world,  a place to engage the senses from the vibrant colourful souks, enticing smells and spices, relaxing hammams  to the architectural wonders from exquisite gardens to ornate mosques and minarets.

So it’s no surprise that the city is becoming more and more active with the street art scene, and more and more international artists are creating public art both in the old city and the French quarter, known as Gueliz. Hidden away, down unassuming side streets and inside cafes and galleries, it’s not that easy to discover Marrakech’s emerging street art installations. So we give you some tips to discover the best public art installations in town and surrounding areas.

On the side of a building on Avenue Mohamed VI, a large portrait of Marrakchi ‘Aziz’ by Beikrich greets visitors exiting the main train station. In collaboration with the Montresso Art Foundation, German artist Hendrik Beikrich pays homage to the disappearing tradesmen in Morocco, at least in the manner that they continue to work today, including zellig artists, masons, shepherds and more.  Beikirch has a fascination for everyday people, those who are often photographed in the souks but never really honoured.
Rue des Vieux Marrakchis is host to one of the leading contemporary and urban art gallery David Bloch with immersive installations from international graffiti artists like REMED, Lek, Sowat, MIST.

In terms of Art festivals, since its creation in 2004 the Marrakech Biennale has grown amongst the top 20 biennales in the world, and Street Art being an inherent part of the cultural programme. In the rooftops of the souks in the Medina,  Bahia Palace area, and the walls around Gueliz, the new part of Marrakech, a dozen of murals by international artists can be found wandering through the narrow colourful streets: Mad C (Germany), Dotmaster (UK), Giacomo RUN (Italy), Dag Insky (France), Kalamour (Morocco), Alexey Lucas (Russia), LX.ONE (France), Lucy McLauchlan (UK), Remi Rough (UK), Sickboy (UK) and Yesbee (UK).

Marrakech also feature the largest mural in Morocco by French artists POES and JO BER,  a monumental 360 sqaure meters in the the college Tariq Ben Ziad, the largest mixed college with 2200 children. Both artists wanted to revisit the infamous board game “The game of Life”, designed to look like a video game. The Master of the game with robotic features invites the children through different seasons in a playful world, with joyful characters, and share a creative vision of life based on knowledge, sign of cultural openness and that the student aspirations and ambitions are supported regardless of their background or gender.

Last but not least the hidden gem of Marrakech is Jardin Rouge (from the Montresso Art Foundation), an artistic residency and private heaven for contemporary and street artists to experiment monumental works (with visits on appointment only).

All photos by Butterfly Art News  

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2016 HIGHLIGHTS

With 2016 coming to a close, we look back at the highlights of the year.
Click on the titles to view more information.

Banksy – Les Miserables (London)

Banksy - London 2016

Venturing Beyond @ Somerset House (London)

Venturing Beyond at Somerset House

Space Invader – Wave 18 in London

London Invasion 2016 - Wave 18

Subcultures @ Espace Croix Baragnon (Toulouse)

Subcultures - Toulouse

Paul Insect – It’s only a Dream (London)

Paul Insect - It's only a dream

 Jardin Rouge for Marrakech Biennale 2016

Poes & Jo Ber Mural - The Game of Life

Hisham Echafaki @ Donmar Warehouse Theatre (London)

Sea Ballet

Yayoi Kusama @ Victoria Miro (London)

Yayoi Kusama

Future Iz Past  <++ (Bordeaux)

<++ Future Iz Past

Jeff Koons – Now (London)

Jeff Koons NOW

Rose Beton Festival (Toulouse)

Tilt - Voyage Retour

dran-Tiens (Brussels)

dran 'Tiens'

Conor Harrington – Watch Your Palace Fall (London)

Conor Harrington - Watch Your Palace Fall

MIMA City Lights (Brussels)

MIMA - Parra

Save Yourselves (London)

Save Yourselves

Studio Visit Remi Rough 

Remi Rough - Studio Visit

No Commission (London)

NO COMMISSION LONDON

Gavin Turk (London)

Gavin Turk - Newport Street Gallery

Creve Hivernale 016 (Toulouse)

Creve Hivernale - Toulouse

Thank you for inspiring us throughout the year
Best Wishes for the year to come!

Marrakech: Tilt – Voyage Retour

Tilt - Voyage Retour

We continue our coverage behind the scenes in Marrakech at Jardin Rouge with French Graffiti artist TILT as he works on the second instalment ‘ Voyage Retour‘ of his installation that is currently exhibited at Rose Beton Festival in Toulouse.

The first part of the installation ‘Voyage Aller’ ( covered)  was featured at the Marrakech Biennale ealier this year.

Tilt - Voyage Retour

Gathering items from the souk and local markets in Marrakech, Tilt and his assistant Gauthier set up the second version of the sectioned car with a roof rack loaded with objects brought back from Orient to Occident.  Carefully assembled and defying laws of gravity, ‘Voyage Retour’ pays tribute to the big summer migration flows.

Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour     Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour

Then Tilt adorns the installation with graffiti, tags and flops and secret messages.

Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour     Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour     Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour Tilt - Voyage Retour     Tilt - Voyage Retour  Tilt - Voyage Retour    Tilt - Voyage Retour

Here is a snapshot of the before / after result:

Tilt - Voyage Retour     Tilt - Voyage RetourTilt - Voyage Retour

Some spots have been deliberately  left open for additional graffiti writers to add their touch to the final installation in Toulouse displayed at the Musee des Abattoirs. Stay tuned for more details coming soon.

View the full set of pics here

Tilt – Voyage Retour
Rose Beton Festival
Toulouse
Until 28 August 2016

Marrakech: Rancinan @ Montresso* Art Foundation

Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault

Launched with the Marrakech Biennale (covered) the new museum space of the Montresso* Art Foundation opened with a retrospective dedicated to French photographer Gerard Rancinan, retracing forty years of photographic work.

Intensely theatrical and heavily staged, the photographs feature a rich visual landscape with elaborate costumes and dramatic poses.

The world’s biggest photograph measuring 9 x 13 meters  features ‘Le Radeau des Illusions’  outside the new museum space.

Gérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultGérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault    Gérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultGérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultGérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault
Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault  Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault   Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault

Conceived in collaboration with French author Caroline Gaudriault, the exhibition showcases a series of the largest to date photographs retracing major periods of the artist: Portraits ( showing artist friends within their creative space), The Trilogy of Moderns  ( 2007 – 2013) and Human Destiny (2015).

Texts by Caroline Gaudriault have been calligraphed by Ouida Abdelghani and  translated by Said Tliti.

Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault
Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault
Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault
Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault     Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault
Gérard Rancinan & Caroline Gaudriault     Gérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultGérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultGérard Rancinan & Caroline GaudriaultMontresso Art Foundation

View the full set of pics here

Rancinan and Caroline Baudriault
Montresso* Art Foundation
Marrakech

Marrakech Biennale 2016 – Tilt ‘Voyage Aller’ installation

Marrakech Biennale 2016

French graffiti artist Tilt has been selected for the OFF of the 6th Marrakech Biennale.
During his artistic residency at Jardin Rouge, in collaboration with the Montresso* Art Foundation, Tilt has created an installation entitled ‘Voyage Aller’ (Inbound Trip) featuring a vehicule overloaded with graffiti, composed of half of 404 Peugeot and his roof rack loaded with objects brought back from the Occident to the Orient.

Having traveled the world since 1988, Tilt has questioned the viewer about the expectations and prejudices, about our habits and ‘mind sets’, he tracks down the resistance to certain art concepts and proclaims loud and clear his graffiti artist status.

Marrakech Biennale 2016

In his thoughts about his participation to the Marrakech Biennale, Tilt continues  his questioning about the consequences of the practices and the experimentation in graffiti art, by fetishizing an object, the Peugeot 404 car, out of time, appreciated for its properties regardless of its practical, socials and cultural interests. Tilt sanctifies the object by vandalizing it; he breaks down the unstable and fluctuating barriers of the work of art.

From this, the artist reinterprets and mounts the images of those big summer migration flows on the Maghreb roads and of the meeting between two cultures through the round trip of these migrants, with his own language, graffiti.

Marrakech Biennale 2016
Marrakech Biennale 2016     Marrakech Biennale 2016Marrakech Biennale 2016Marrakech Biennale 2016

Here is  a video of the creative process for the “Voyage Aller’ installation

https://vimeo.com/157149831

 

The ‘Voyage Aller‘ installation is currently exhibited at L’Blassa, Yougoslavie road, Marrakech until 8 May 2016.

View the full set of pics from the Marrakech Biennale here

The other half of the installation ‘Voyage Retour‘ will be presented at the museum Les Abattoirs in Toulouse in June 2016, the other side of the same car will be revealed to the public on his return version, with a roof rack loaded with objects brought back from Orient to Occident.

Tilt – Voyage Aller
Until 8 May
Marrakech Biennale 2016
L’Blassa, Yougoslavie road
Marrakech