Fez — The “Michelangelo Buonarroti” visual arts biennale has honored Moroccan artist Hayat Saidi “Michelangelo Buonarroti,” celebrating her creativity and recognizing the distinctness of her work in the global industry.
Held in the southern city of Lecce, the ceremony recognizes artists for the expressive force of their work and their broader contribution to contemporary art on the international stage.
Michelangelo’s 550th anniversary
The 2025 edition of the biennale revolved around the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth with the theme “Creativity and creation between ecstasy and torment — The fire of the soul.” An event notice for the biennale set the Lecce gathering for November 30, hosted at the historic Torre del Greco venue in the “Sala del Principe.”
The biennale is presented by an Italian cultural academy operating under the name “Italia in Arte nel Mondo,” which describes the program as part of a broader series of international recognitions spanning the arts, culture, and related disciplines.
A year of exhibitions across Europe
Saidi’s latest award comes as she continues a run of appearances across Europe in 2025, including an exhibition in Florence at the “Museo Bellini,” a contemporary art salon in Milan, and an international exhibition in Barcelona. She also took part in Lecce’s visual arts biennale “Odysséa, metaphor of life’s journey,” and joined the “Italian Art Review” program, listed as touring with institutional support in Berlin in October and Amsterdam in December.
Her work has also been featured in the anthology “Antologia di artisti contemporanei – I grandi maestri della Luce,” published by Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori, a title distributed through major Italian booksellers.
What the recognition means for Moroccan contemporary art
Beyond exhibitions, Saidi is also known for founding “Women’s Art World,” a platform launched to promote women artists and strengthen international exchange through art.
For Morocco’s cultural visibility abroad, recognitions like the Lecce award matter less as standalone trophies than as proof of continuity.
Such prizes validate Moroccan creativity and what it has to offer on the global market, thus paving the way for more Moroccan artists to show up in international circuits, build networks, and keep their work present in the conversations that shape contemporary art beyond Morocco’s borders.
