»In the Carpet / Über den Teppich«

Including works by Saâdane Afif, Amina Agueznay, Anni Albers, Yto Barrada, Taysir Batniji, Sheila Hicks, Ida Kerkovius, Rudolf Lutz, Mostafa Maftah, Mohammed Melehi, Gunta Stölzl as well as anonymous works by Moroccan artists.

The exhibition In the carpet, curated by Salma Lahlou, Mouna Mekouar and Alya Sebti, investigates the swinging and reciprocal effects between the practices of art and craft, and the fruitful exchanges between centers in Europe and Morocco. The narrative is built on the emblematic figure of Sheila Hicks who worked in the early seventies with artisans in Morocco. Through her, this exhibition addresses stories with plural time frames, from the Bauhaus until nowadays. The formal dialogue between the carpets Zemmour and Béni Ouarain and the Bauhaus figures of Anni Alber and Gunta Stölzl will be highlighted. The switch that occurred with these modern artists will be taken in perspective with the creation of the artists’ group called Ecole de Casablanca.

In the carpet unveils the resonances between traditional Berber carpets and pieces of modern and contemporary artists like Amnina Agueznay, Yto Barrada, Saâdane Afif, Taysir Batniji or Mostafa Maftah. The show will engage with the polysemous definitions of the carpet – as both object and representation, space and territory, form and technique, gesture and performance – underlining the fusions and overlaps between art practices and forms. It highlights the complex phenomena of superposition or fusion, and the exchanges between North Africa and Europe.

In cooperation with ifa-Galerie Stuttgart.

Admission is free.