Casablanca Art School: A Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962–1987
July 12–October 13, 2024
The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt proudly presents the first major exhibition dedicated to the Casablanca Art School, running from July 12 to October 13, 2024. This landmark exhibition celebrates the innovative and influential work of the Casablanca Art School, which became a vibrant center of cultural renewal just a few years after Morocco gained independence in 1956.
Sebastian Baden, Director of Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, remarked, “This exhibition is the first to comprehensively present the Casablanca Art School’s influential legacy. The school’s teachers and students reimagined Moroccan art and arts education post-independence, aiming to decolonize and integrate arts into everyday life through diverse forms like paintings, posters, and murals.”
The exhibition is divided into eight thematic sections, presenting approximately 100 works by 22 artists. Featured artists include Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa, Bert Flint, Toni Maraini, and Mohamed Melehi. These works encompass abstract paintings, urban murals, crafts, graphic design, interior design, and typography. The exhibition also includes rare archival material, such as film footage, vintage journals, photographs, and prints, revealing a transnational Moroccan art scene.
Curators Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet explained, “The ‘Casablanca Art School’ explores a distinctive vision for modern life, driven by the influential teachers known informally as the ‘Casablanca Group.’ This collective proclaimed a new art for Morocco that grew out of Afro-Amazigh heritage and sparked a lasting urban, social, and cultural movement.”
In the Schirn’s rotunda, visitors can view three films from the video series School of Walking (2023) by the artist duo Bik Van der Pol. These films are part of the residency program School of Casablanca, initiated by KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin) and ThinkArt (Casablanca).
The exhibition, organized by Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Tate St Ives, and Sharjah Art Foundation, is supported by Stadt Frankfurt and Hessische Kulturstiftung, with additional support from Fraport AG. A catalog titled Casablanca Art School: A Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962–1987, edited by Morad Montazami, Madeleine de Colnet, and Esther Schlicht, accompanies the exhibition. This German-English edition includes contributions by Maud Houssais, Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa, and Morad Montazami, with a foreword by Sebastian Baden.
