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Marrakech Biennale 4th Edition
ART, FILM, LITERATURE AND DEBATE
Surrender
29th February – 4th March 2012
The Marrakech Biennale - formerly Arts in Marrakech (AiM) Biennale - is a Moroccan festival of contemporary international culture. In February 2012 the Marrakech Biennale will launch its fourth edition, Surrender, featuring key figures in literature, film and visual arts. Public screenings, talks, performances and debates will take place at diverse venues and locations around the city.
The Marrakech Biennale is pleased to announce the participation of Roger Hiorns, Rian Malan, Kate Winslet, Hicham Lasri, Geoff Dyer, Anthony Horowitz, Faouzi Bensaidi, Dominic West and CocoRosie amongst others.
In this, its fourth and largest edition, the Marrakech Biennale is in partnership with Dar al-Ma’mûn residency, Institut Français, Palais de Tokyo, British Council, Puma, Helisud Maroc, Calvert 22 Gallery, Tate, ESAV Film School, On Spot Story, Travel Link Morocco and the Goethe Institute.
Visual arts: As part of the Biennale, Higher Atlas, a major exhibition curated by Carson Chan and Nadim Samman, will take place at the Theatre Royal in Marrakech (29th February-3rd June 2012). High connotes reverie and transcendence. Higher Atlas suggests a cartography of the beyond. All works will be new site-specific commissions, conceived and created on location with local craftspeople and manufacturers. Over twenty-five international artists, architects, writers, musicians and composers will be showing their work, including Karthik Pandian, Aleksandra Domanovic, CocoRosie, Jon Nash, Juergen Mayer H and Turner Prize nominated Roger Hiorns. The exhibition seeks to engage in an expansive dialogue with the city.
Co-curator Carson Chan notes: “While trying to curate an exhibition that could become part of a contemporary Moroccan cultural identity, we can also challenge the received methods of biennale making that is routinely practiced elsewhere. Do we have to show art? Why not commission a novel, a symphony, an album or a prayer? “
Film: Alan Yentob, creative director of the BBC, leads the advisory board curating the film programme with discussions, screenings and debates held in Riad El Fenn and the ESAV film school. Confirmed participants include Anthony Horowitz, Kate Winslet, Dominic West, Lubna Azabal, Faouzi Bensaidi, Kevin McDonald, Michael Souvignier and Hicham Lasri.
Literature: Omar Berrada, Benedicte Clarkson and Elizabeth Sheinkman organise the literature events which include Rian Malan and Geoff Dyer and take place at the 17th century townhouse, Riad El Fenn. Readings, performances and interventions will also be taking place around the city.
Debate: A series of conversations on art and identity, presented by Dar al-Ma'mûn and featuring curators, editors and critics from the international art world, including Aziz Daki (Atelier 21), Simon Njami (Revue Noire), Khadija El Bennaoui (Art Moves Africa) and Negar Azimi (Bidoun).
Education: In order to promote access to contemporary culture for all ages, the 4th Marrakech Biennale will conduct workshops for children lead by local and international cultural practitioners, in partnership with Zidzid Kids. An internship programme pairing artists with students from the l'Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech (UCAM) has also been established.
Official Parallel Projects: Official Parallel Projects will be selected and acknowledged as an integral and specific section of the Biennale, and will be autonomously organized by the promoting institutes/individuals. We aim to fuel creative production in Marrakech during the Biennale dates with many international and local organisations involved, ranging from book launches to round-tables to video installations.
General: These three months aim to highlight Morocco as a dynamic hub for current ideas and to establish its continued intellectual involvement on an international stage. The biennale’s role, both locally and internationally, has evolved along with the climate of the times. In light of recent events in North Africa, its goals could not be more pertinent. In addition to sponsoring significant and lasting social, economic and cultural benefits for the area and its inhabitants, the Biennale aims to show the outside world that Morocco is an open society that encourages freedom of expression and debate.
Venues: Various around the city of Marrakech including Riad El Fenn, ESAV Film School, Theatre Royal, Riad Denise Masson, Jemaa el Fna Square.
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