Image: Various artworks at the Casablanca Art School exhibition in Sharjah
Following its acclaimed showing at Tate St Ives, organised in partnership with Sharjah Art Foundation, Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962–1987, the first major museum exhibition of works of the School, has now opened in Sharjah and will be on view until 16 June 2024.
In the exhilaration following Moroccan independence in 1956, staff and students at the Casablanca Art School (CAS) fomented an artistic revolution. They integrated abstract art with African and Amazigh traditions, taking inspiration from the region’s rugs, jewellery, calligraphy and painted ceilings.
Drawing on their multicultural heritage, CAS staff and students brought art into everyday life, utilising paintings, posters, magazines, outdoor murals and street festivals to do so. This Moroccan ‘new wave’ triggered a social and urban movement, eventually contributing to artistic solidarities between Latin America, West Asia and Africa.
The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962–1987) explores a distinct vision for modern life driven by five influential CAS artists and teachers: Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa, Bert Flint, Toni (Antonella) Maraini and Mohamed Melehi. Known informally as the Casablanca Group (or Casa Group), the legendary Moroccan art collective, which grew to include more members, proved to be a ‘constellation’ of artists rather than a strict group.
This first museum exhibition of their art and legacy in the region features artworks by 21 CAS artist-activists from across generations. On view are 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.
In the Sharjah iteration, the artworks are divided into themes. 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.
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.
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.
The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962–1987 is presented at Al Hamriyah Studios and Old Al Diwan Al Amiri in Al Hamriyah.
Visiting the exhibition 24 February–16 June 2024, Al Hamriyah Studios and Old Al Diwan Al Amiri, Al Hamriyah, Sharjah 9:00 am–9:00 pm, Saturday to Thursday | 4:00 pm–9:00 pm, Friday Free admission. Advance registration is required at sharjahart.org.
Image: Various artworks at the Casablanca Art School exhibition in Sharjah
Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.
Opened in 1993 and expanded in 2017, Tate St Ives presents modern and contemporary art from the Tate collection alongside temporary exhibitions, new commissions, learning and research programmes. Tate St Ives manages the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, and is the only Tate gallery to have a dedicated Artist Residency programme. Tate St Ives was awarded Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018, the UK’s largest and most prestigious museum award.
Directed by Morad Montazami (b. 1981, Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Madeleine de Colnet (b. 1979, Versailles), Zamân Books & Curating explores the counter-histories of visual modernity in the Arab, African and Asian worlds. The publishing and curatorial platform's main mission is to disseminate new cosmopolitan knowledge about art and images through monographs, artists' books, thematic or collective works, and more. Recent exhibitions include Monaco-Alexandrie. Le Grand détour. Villes-mondes etsurréalisme cosmopolite, New National Museum of Monaco (2021–2022); Mohamed Melehi et les archives de l'École deCasa, MACAAL, Marakech (2019–2020); and Bagdad Mon Amour, Institut des cultures d'Islam, Paris (2018).
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. It was named UNESCO's Arab Capital of Culture in 1998 and the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2019.
Alyazeyah AlMarri
Press & Communications Manager
Sharjah Art Foundation
Tel: +971-6-544-4113, ext. 26
