Marrakech – BASMA Association presents “Ce geste vient d’ailleurs”, a collective exhibition at the iconic Palais Bahia, featured in the “What’s On” program of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
Initiated by Ilyass Alami Afilal and curated by Farah Maakel, the exhibition offers a dynamic encounter between emerging art scenes from Morocco and West Africa, framed as a powerful gesture of cultural transmission.
“Ce geste vient d’ailleurs” brings together ten artists around a central question: how do gestures circulate, move, and transform over time?
The exhibition highlights forms of knowledge that exist beyond written narratives or fixed categories, rooted in material, usage, and subtle symbolic or ritual practices.
Rather than presenting a unified style, the works reveal “a proximity of situations,” reflecting shared realities, local materials, and layered cultural inheritances.
A selection of works was produced during a residency in Casablanca, where artists from Senegal, Mali, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco collaborated in interregional dialogues.
The materials, including recycled fishing nets, worn-out sandals, layered images, and everyday objects drawn from maritime, agricultural, domestic, and artisanal life, preserve their origins while creating new connections, transforming the ordinary into a site of memory and correspondence.
The exhibition embraces a productive tension: contemporary artistic forms interact with the historical and cultural markers of the palace, suggesting that heritage is not static but a space to activate.
The scenography, designed by Yasmine Echair, balances integration and distinction, responding to the palace’s architectural and chromatic qualities while asserting a minimal, contemporary presence through lightweight, autonomous modules that guide the visitor without imposing on the historic walls.
The exhibition was entirely conceived, curated, and staged by young professionals – not as a theme, but as a responsibility.
Artists featured include Tesprit (Togo), Yanis Tatbi (Morocco/France), Issam Fariane (Morocco), Mariam Niare (Mali), Fatine Arafati (Morocco), Xaadim Mbow (Senegal), Soukaina Bouali (Morocco), Theophany Adoh (Côte d’Ivoire), Sarah Mounia Kachiri (Morocco/France), and Melanie Ebtissem Defoin (Morocco/Belgium).
