Rabat — “Maroc, Atlas Sentimental,” a new photographic exhibition by Italian photographer Nicola Fioravanti, is taking over Bab Rouah Gallery from December 1 to 18.
Sixty images invite visitors into a journey through Morocco’s colors, textures, and everyday scenes.
The series grew out of a long roaming trip across the country. Fioravanti’s lens captures kasbahs with maze-like passages, crowded market stalls, and faces caught in the middle of a fleeting encounter. Each photograph rests on an understated balance of color and form, without staging or excess.
A chromatic atlas of everyday life
The title sets the tone. This “sentimental atlas” does not map borders or roads. It maps impressions. Fioravanti uses color as his main guide. It is the thread that ties together streets, objects, and gestures.
From the medina of Casablanca to the blue alleyways of Chefchaouen, he searches for what makes each place visually singular. A door, a wall, a fruit stall, a piece of fabric in motion become small chapters in the story. Through color, he looks for the essence of the spaces he crosses, and, by extension, of Morocco itself.
The result is a quiet immersion rather than a postcard series. The images linger on details and on the way light settles on stone, skin, or fabric. They suggest lives in motion, without forcing a narrative.
A visual letter between Morocco and Italy
The Rabat stop of “Maroc, Atlas Sentimental” comes in a symbolic year. In 2025, Morocco and Italy mark 200 years of diplomatic relations. The exhibition arrives as a cultural echo of that anniversary.
Supported by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication and the Embassy of Italy in Rabat, the show reads like a visual love letter to Morocco. It celebrates an “extraordinary chromatic palette” that, in Fioravanti’s eyes, shapes the country’s soul as much as its landscapes.
By hanging this work in a national gallery, the organizers also underline how foreign perspectives can deepen the dialogue around Moroccan identity. The gaze is Italian, but the subject is Moroccan, and the exchange runs in both directions.
Curated route through Bab Rouah
The exhibition is curated by art historian Daniela Brignone. The layout is organized by the association I-design and Contemporary Concept, which have already accompanied the project in other cities.
At Bab Rouah, the images are arranged as a progressive walk. Viewers move from urban density to more remote spaces, from familiar landmarks to less documented corners. The idea is to recreate the rhythm of a journey, with its shifts, pauses, and surprises.
The gallery is open to the public from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entry allows visitors to spend time with the works at their own pace, to step close to the prints and read the subtle play of tones and textures.
A prize-winning eye on Morocco
Born in 1985, Nicola Fioravanti is an Italian photographer based in Paris. His work has won multiple international distinctions, including the Sony World Photography Awards, the International Photography Awards, the Prix de la Photographie de Paris, the 1839 Awards, and the ND Awards.
“Maroc, Atlas Sentimental” condenses several years of travel and observation. It reflects a long-term relationship with the country rather than a brief visit. The exhibition invites viewers to see Morocco not only as a destination, but as a living field of colors and emotions that continue to shift with every step.
