Fez — The monthlong show presents Bouhamidi’s search for balance and purity through color and form, with canvases that play saturated hues against one another to “capture light” and carry layered messages.
In program notes, the foundation highlights the artist’s chromatic richness and the way his compositions transmit social concerns—including reflections on the status of women—while remaining accessible to a broad public.
For Bouhamidi, the exhibition is also a homecoming. “This exhibition represents the fulfillment of my desire, as an individual and as an artist, to reconnect with my father’s country. It is an affirmation of my belonging to Morocco,” he said to MWN Lifestyle.
Born in 1981 in Palm Springs to a French mother and a Moroccan father, Bouhamidi lives and works in Los Angeles. He holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in painting from Boston University, and has exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Morocco.
“Sanctuary Kingdom” aligns with the foundation’s mission to showcase the creativity of the Moroccan diaspora and to foster cultural exchange in the capital. By foregrounding an artist who encountered Morocco for the first time as an adult yet anchors his practice in its heritage, the show invites visitors to consider how identity can be rebuilt through color, light, and gesture.
The Foundation frames the exhibition as both a visual experience and a dialogue. Bouhamidi’s contrasting palettes and controlled structures invite slow looking, while the works’ emotional charge opens space for personal readings. The result is a gallery journey that pairs technical rigor with intimate signals of memory and belonging.
“Sanctuary Kingdom” runs from October 2 through November 3 in Rabat under the auspices of the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans Living Abroad. Further practical details, including visiting hours, will be available from the Foundation ahead of opening day.
