The film to the exhibition: Casablanca Art School. A postcolonial avant-garde 1962–1987

The Casablanca Art School symbol­izes new modern Moroccan art. It stands for a move­ment that has deep roots in the local culture and yet is at the same time trail­blazing. After Morocco’s inde­pen­dence from the French protec­torate, in the 1960s in the context of this pioneering art college, artists sought to estab­lish a new, unique iden­tity and at the same time forge links to the inter­na­tional avant-garde. This cross-gener­a­tional art move­ment, the Moroccan “New Wave”, did its best to sweep away the art that only took place in “exclu­sive salons” and with it the colo­nial heritage.

That said, who were the artists and teachers driving this new move­ment in art? And what was special about how they saw art? The film accom­pa­nying the exhi­bi­tion gives you an idea and intro­duces the leading minds of the move­ment, among them Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Melehi, Mohammed Chabâa, Toni Maraini, and Bert Flint.