Fez — ALMA Art Gallery is dedicating its next show to one of Morocco’s most storied art institutions.
“ALMAINBA – La Source” gathers nine artists trained at the Institut National des Beaux-Arts (INBA) of Tetouan, presenting a multigenerational portrait of the school’s legacy and its imprint on contemporary practice.
The title fuses “ALMA,” Spanish for “soul,” with “INBA,” and echoes the Arabic المنبع, “the source,” underscoring the show’s theme of returning to roots.
Opening on December 4 at 7 p.m., the exhibition features Chams Eddoha Ataa-Allah, Rahima El Arroud, Bouabid Bouzaid, Abdellatif Belaziz, Abdellah Dibaji, Saïd Qodaid, Youness El Kharraz, Rachid Hanbali, and Ahmed El Hayani. ALMA notes that the lineup includes the first woman to graduate from INBA, positioning the show as both a tribute and a transmission between generations.
“ALMAINBA” spotlights the material rigor and quiet interior light that define each work while inviting viewers to read across distinct visual languages shaped by the Tetouan tradition.
The gallery frames the project as a celebration of sincerity in the artistic gesture and of the Tetouan school’s role in forming successive generations of Moroccan painters. Under the direction of Khalil Bouanani, ALMA describes the exhibition as a homecoming for the city’s audiences.
A living tribute to the Tetouan School
Paying homage to Tetouan “is to recognize a filiation,” Bouanani says, adding that the artists share “mastery of the gesture and freedom of gaze,” and that the show marks “a return to the source of Moroccan art.”
Beyond historical homage, “ALMAINBA – La Source” positions ALMA Art Gallery as a platform for dialogue on the state of Moroccan creation today. By assembling senior figures whose careers span decades, the show invites viewers to track continuities and departures within a common lineage.
The works collectively argue for a reading of Tetouan not as a fixed style, but as a living ecosystem that prizes craft, clarity of intent, and openness to the world.
“ALMAINBA – La Source” will be held at ALMA Art Gallery, 28 Rue Michel-Ange, off Boulevard d’Anfa, Casablanca. The opening takes place on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m.
