The first exhibition dedicated to the Casablanca School in the UK will take place at Tate St Ives from 27 May 2023 to 14 January 2024. The event will feature iconic works by around 20 artists.
From the museum's press release: "The exhibition will show how the main exponents of the group looked beyond western styles and teaching, encouraging students to explore abstract art and reconnect with Afro-Arab culture. Farid Belkahia, appointed Director of the Casablanca Art School, expanded teaching staff to include Mohamed Melehi and Toni Mariani (from 1964), Bert Flint (from 1965) and Mohammed Chabâa (from 1966), heralding memorable years of artistic progress. This network of artists looked to the Bauhaus art school – which removed distinctions between art, craft, design and architecture – and reimagined its vision within an Afro-Berber context."
Casablanca Art School is curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet for Zamân Books & Curating in conjunction with Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives and Giles Jackson, Assistant Curator, Tate St Ives, and with associate researchers Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa and Maud Houssais.
Mohammed Chabâa, Untitled, 1977. Copyrights: Mohammed Chabâa Estate