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The Untitled show does not remain unnamed

Daniella Géo

Many artists, showing dissatisfaction and/or distrustfulness, question the reason why to be most commonly invited to participate in exhibitions, in the Western world, which group them according to the cultural specificity or the region of origin. 

That frame, far from being restricted to the Arab artists, is extended to others, whose cultural roots are seen in Europe and the United States, as different enough to supply their need of seeking the new.   From Latin American to East Asian artists are frequently filling the space granted by exhibitions conducted for that kind of delimitation.     

Not without reason, those artists attempt to protect themselves from projects, in which there is a risk of ending up exercising a more ethnographic function, illustrating mistaken concepts or, still, legitimizing demagogical political strategies of local governments. 

The posture of caution was not distinct, when some of the participants of Zonder Titel (Untitled) - that took place from 15th of March to 20th of May 2007, in the MuHKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium) - were contacted by the Belgian artist of Moroccan origin Charif Benhelima, curator of the show.  
What would be the guarantee that  (if not an initiative of doubtful intentions) it wouldn’t be just one more of the many exhibitions gathering Arab artists? 
Some were already tired of representing rather a generalist scene than their own works and the personal issues proposed in their individual projects. 

In the last decade, the practice of organizing cultural events in a regional/cultural perspective seems to be engaging more and more curators and cultural operators in the ambit of art exhibitions. This tendency, besides serving as a source of renovation, can also be comprehended as a reflex of the effects caused by globalization.

If globalization, on the one hand, has approached borders and opened the way for the massification of certain customs and thoughts, on the other hand has ended up by stimulating a run for the preservation and rescue of particular identities.
Many governments and official institutions have been acknowledging historical re-readings and investing in the reconstitution of their roots, as well as in projects that value local cultures or those of minorities.

There is a thirst for the nomination, definition and reaffirmation of identities; the cultural events of regional/cultural themes can function as a well for supplying that urge.

How can we also explain the programming of contemporary art exhibitions that assemble more specific categories, many times related to the localities of the traditional centers of the arts?   An example, not to go so far, is the show Monopolis/Antwerp (Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2005) - a cooperation between the host center of contemporary art in Holland, and three institutions from Antwerp, among which MuHKA itself - that aimed to promote the artistic scene of the Flemish city. 

If for the artist, as an individual, it might not be so rewarding to have his/her work presented by a regional perspective, for the image of the represented group, whereas, exhibitions of this character can signify its validation and the recognition of aspects, qualities and detailed specificities unknown before or underestimated. 

When they are related to representations of Arab or Islamic countries, those initiatives can collaborate for the diffusion of an inclusive and broader image, which counterpoints the stereotypes sold by the media and by certain Western political propagandas. What may seem evident is not always regarded in practice, and the importance to invest in art is often neglected. 

In the case of Zonder Titel, the show was conceived taking in consideration the context of the North-African Diaspora, in special the Moroccan, since Belgium was and still is one of the European countries of destination and the Moroccans form one of the biggest communities of immigrants in the country.  
Besides that, at present, the Moroccan community is the one to face more resistance from the Belgian population – reality that is more manifest in the region of Flanders, where Antwerp is situated.

Even though the project has not arisen due to political reasons, but for genuine interest in the contemporary artistic development of Morocco, its originators were conscious of the social role it could play.  If the initiative by itself would not be capable of establishing an concrete integration, it would, at least, try to stimulate a greater dialogue between the groups, showing a dynamic and multifaceted Moroccan society that surpasses the local prejudices and that has more to offer than couscous and hijab.  

Everything began with an invitation from Mohamed Ikoubaân, resident in Belgium for twelve years and director-founder of Moussem - a nonprofit organization, located in Antwerp, that develops events connected to music, literature, theater and cinema of Morocco and of other Arab and Muslim cultures - to Benhelima, to curate a small show of contemporary photography of Morocco. 
Benhelima saw there the possibility to go for a more ambitious enterprise, one capable to effectively introduce the contemporary art of Morocco in the map of the arts of the country. For that, it would be necessary to count on the partnership of a renowned institution that could provide visibility to the initiative, such as the MuHKA, one of the main Belgian museums. 

Bart De Baere, artistic director of the institution, upon accepting, he took a risky step on the path of exhibitions organized under his guardianship.  Even when the project could be justified by the government directive of the Minister of Culture of Belgium, Bert Anciaux  (that proposes the incentive for cultural diversity) and by the museum, protagonists were skeptic with what Benhelima would present, since the contemporary art of Morocco was practically unknown in Belgium. 

Although there are Moroccan artists exhibiting in museums and festivals of international recognition, such as Center George Pompidou or the Documenta of Kassel, critics, curators and art professionals in general had very little notion of the Moroccan artistic scene.   It was feared that there would be no consistent production, but rather decorative arts and/or folklore, and it was very unpredictable how the public and the media would react. 

The collaboration with the MuHKA was carried out for almost two years and the project grew. De Baere invited the Moussem to include in the programming one of their two main annual events, the spring Moussem Festival, which presents musical groups and poetry of various Arab countries.  The already traditional program of the museum, in which a guest artist makes an intervention in its permanent collection, was delegated to members of the Moroccan community _called then the Moussem Club _, who received training through the museum’s collection during a year. 
It was also planned the screening of films of Arab origin, a round table with the collaborating artists and professionals of the area, besides the contemporary art exhibition itself.
Practically the entire museum was occupied by the project, which was named after the show and the festival, being called Zonder Titel – Moussem Festival. 

The partnership formed by Moroccan and Belgian organizers created an important debate between the internal and external perceptions of the Arab culture, establishing a commitment for promoting a vision free of stereotypes and, at the same time, comprehensible and stimulating for the general public.  For Benhelima, the exhibition also signified an opportunity for knowing more about the paternal homeland and for straitening the ties between the two countries. 

There was sufficient motivation to guarantee a diversified perspective of the art of Morocco, with aesthetic and formal researches that are contemporary to those practiced in the main international centers of art.

As it is habitual in the Moussem’s events to receive representations of a country other than Morocco, two Egyptian artists, Khaled Hafez and Amal Kenawy, were invited to take part in the show along with nine Moroccan artists: Hicham Benohoud, Ali Chraïbi, Abdelali Dahrouch,  Hassan Darsi, Touhami Ennadre, Safaâ Erruas, Wafae Ahalouch El Keriasti,  Studio Ifriqia and Younès Rahmoun.

For the organizers, Morocco should not be thought of only within the limits of its territory, it ought to be made links to other nations. Unfortunately, the idea of the invitation and of a symbolic connection with Egypt was not well publicized in the scope of the exhibition, remaining barely clear. 

The use of a “non-title” intended - faced with the general context of the initiative and of so many pre-conceived ideas – to detach the exhibition from one more label, which could direct the perception of the spectators and suggest associations between the works.  Rather than to box in oeuvres into established curatorial concepts, Zonder Titel privileged artists that explored diverse researches, devices, aesthetics, forms and thematic, offering, as intended, a variation of approaches and, consequently, a broad chart of the art represented.  At the same time, through the subjects questioned by the pieces, the show assured the distinction of a certain specificity of this art. 

We say certain specificity because it is difficult, if not impossible today to find an art thought of and discoursed of (according to any criteria) as contemporary art specific or particular to a region.

In other words, to point out particularities or characteristics exclusive to the contemporary art currently practiced in a given country can be questionable.  In general, the differences or specificities lie in the issues questioned by the artworks, for being to a great extent a reflex of the society in which the artist live and/or of his/her culture.
Occasionally, it’s noticeable the predominance of some colors and tones or the use of materials specific from a territory; however this is restricted to exceptional cases.

To speak of actual art practices from one place is only a way of recognition of one represented cultural group and of the quality of their art, rather than a real aspiration to differentiate this practice from others, even if there is an interest in demonstrating what artists native of a particular region are producing. 

Right in the entrance of the exhibition, the sculpture of light Subha (2004) by Younès Rahmoun, installed on the floor in the center of the space, and the large format photographs of the series Mains du Monde (1978-1982) by Touhami Ennadre, that occupied the long frontal wall, created a warm and mystical atmosphere that seemed to welcome the visitors and to suggest a presence that transcends us.

In Subha, the 99 light bulbs covered by white fabric and connected by an intentionally apparent electric-end make reference to a religious and spiritual universe: on one side, the repetition and the number of rounded elements connected one to another, as in a tasbi, refer to meditation and devotion; on the other side, the circular movement constructed from the inside-out, anticlockwise, allude to pilgrims in Mecca. 
The walls of the entrance painted in black and the minimal use of ambient lighting helped to give an intimate tone to the foyer.  The lines marked on the hands in close ups in Ennadre’s black and white images, as well as Rahmoun’s spiral that reminds flames or even the Milky Way, represent life (and death as inherent to it), as well as time and its cyclical properties of constant movement.

In a space contiguous to the first one, but located in a little higher platform with more brightness and a more uniform lighting, the photographs of the series La Salle de Classe (2000-2002) by Hicham Benohoud, arranged in panels of irregular formats, contrasted with the serenity of the first pieces, conferring a dynamic rhythm to the exhibition.   Probably the best-known work of the artist, La Salle de Classe is worthy of its notoriety. The series encloses, at the same time, two photographic researches, generally, antagonistic: the documentary and the one of constructed images. It is not merely a simple record of performances, neither performed photographs, as in Jeff Wall. The work is, on one hand, an enactment, played by students instructed to assume a certain position and to dress strange sculptural pieces (made of ordinary materials that sometimes form extensions of their bodies, and sometimes cover them), and on the other hand, a documentation, whose documented object is not the performance itself and goes beyond the genuine school activity shown in the back of the room.
The series is a documentation of what the contrast between the act in the foreground and the spontaneous and expected behavior in the background represents: the silent obedience of the students and the unquestionable authority of the teacher in this case Benohoud himself_  who developed the series during the years he taught art in Marrakech. 

Benohoud presents also other photographic works, where the body is the central element, as in Petites Images décollées (2006).

Another photographic research exhibited is the black and white series Downtown Memories (1999-2000) by Ali Chraïbi, which was shot in the streets of Marrakech. In the selection, flou against-the-light urban landscapes occupy the background of the image, giving the impression of an inaccessible, remote time.  Formally detached, the foreground - in focus – is composed by dirt, dust, water drops and/or reflection, which function as disruption of the represented remembrances and as demarcation of another space and even of another time – yet they are, actually, blended by the shooting.  The impression created is that the time of the background is movable (even if static), evanescent, that stays behind more and more, while the foreground’s is fixed and present. 
On the first sight, some of the stains appear to have been applied onto the images in a posterior moment to the shooting. But, right afterwards, one can perceive that they emphasize the vision through  (in the case, the camera, a window), as it happens with the memories, which are seen through the filter of the present.

Studio Ifriqia, an artists’ group, proposes blown up and hand painted photos of the former Studio of Marrakech; the images evoke a versatile interest, for the artificial effect and the almost cartoonish aesthetics, especially in details of the torso and the clothes. The group studio Ifriquia represent more a socio-cultural practice, than a contemporary artistic research. 

In a room with two independent spaces, the feminine universe is shown under distinct perspectives.  The human figure is not seen in Safaâ Erruas’ installations, but the representation of experiences and/or of the position of the woman within an Arab Muslim context. 
Through the almost exclusive use of the white color and of materials of opposite connotations, pillows, gauzes, blades and needles (like the artist’s project Les Oreillers, 2005), Erruas presents a delicate and immaculate world, on the first glance, which seen closely reveals its dimension of pain and vulnerability. 
In Almohada (a 2006 project), a sort of cage inside a cage, covered with gauze, by crossing its narrow corridor and reaching its spacious interior, the audience is able to actually experience the tension and the ambiguity proposed by the works of Erruas.
Emotions vary from a certain claustrophobia or discomfort, to a quest for protection.  An only cushion (almohada in Spanish) is placed in the inner part; the element succeeds in evoking the notion of dreams and/or the esoteric realms of individual consciousness.

On her turn, Amal Kenawy treats the feminine/female universe under the prism of personal experiences, independent of religious and cultural aspects. 
In the video-installation Stop: You Will Be Killed (2006), Kenawy combines video, photography, animation, and the superposition of these elements, constructing a sometimes-frenetic language of non-linear narrative.  Kenawy does not show palpable situations, nor she exposes factual events, but rather transmits a whirl of feelings and emotions, such as pain, suffering, loss, emotional death, confinement.
If the portrait of the artist as dead, a room plant, the drawing of mice, of blood, of muses, may seem disconnected, the edition and the rhythm worked out by the artist make those and other elements overflow over the limits of the images and sense in the experiences of the spectator as well.   

Two projects of Hassan Darsi occupied the entire rotunda of the museum’s ground floor; the first project comprised an on going photographic series Portrait de Famille (2001), a portable studio of kitsch-Arab decor where families are photographed; the second work was the famous Le projet de la maquette (2002-2003), scale-model of the park L'Hermitage in Casablanca that affirms the activism of Hassan Darsi, an artist who encloses in his process the notion of art practice that is socially and politically engaged; the artist proved capable in influencing and even to altering the status quo through his practice. 

By transposing the idea of a real space, but somehow invisible, to a scale-model where the physicality of the old colonial park became more evident, Darsi confronted the public to L’Hermitage’s state of abandonment.
The physical oeuvre generated a movement of indignation led by the inhabitants of the city themselves, which resulted in revendicatory actions and, finally, in the maintenance of the park space, completing then Darsi’s real oeuvre. 

Many artists could present an important number of works, offering the public a better idea of their researches. In any case, independently of the quantity, each participant had a space dedicated to his oeuvre, if not delimited by walls, marked out by a subtle covering of colors - with the exception of the black that is immediately evident - and/or by a differentiated lighting, as if small solo shows composed Zonder Titel.  As artist himself, Benhelima opted not to stage too many participants in order to avoid that the individual ended up obscured by the idea of national representation. He preferred to invest in each collaborator, prizing his/her representation as an individual, in an attempt that the exhibition, as well as fulfilling a social function and validating the contemporary art of Morocco (and Arab in general, through the symbolic connection to Egypt), would be also rewarding for each artist.

For the painter Wafae Ahalouch El Keriasti, Zonder Titel was her first real opportunity to exhibit publicly, likely to stand for the consistency of her work. The seven big format canvases revealed an expressive oeuvre, which makes use of transparencies and superposition of layers of acrylic paint, of accentuation of details through drawing, and even of the incorporation of small mistakes, to create ambivalences that flow between a world of fantasies and that of real possibilities. 
The contrast between the white and pastel colors on one hand, and a contemporary aesthetics and bizarre situations on another, make the painting of El Keriasti, at the same time, delicate and vigorous, nearly provocative.  The artist deals mainly with the ideas of innocence and hypocrisy to treat social problematic, such as power, religion, sex, turning the layers of her painting more than aesthetic and formal elements; a priceless discovery.

The cadent punctuation of the show was achieved above all by the strategic arrangement of the more placid and the explosive artworks, being the far-off disposal of the three video-art pieces a guarantee for a surprising experience through the course of the exhibition.  Revolution (2006) by Khaled Hafez is meticulously constructed, each element well thought and developed, nothing is out of place and everything has a reason why, as in ideological propaganda discourses. As a matter of fact, it is exactly about ideology and the powers of a society that Hafez discuss here.  On one side, the pop somehow-satirical aesthetics is used for its contrast with the subject _that could be heavy, even tiresome. 
On the other side, it refers to the television world and its aesthetic pastiches, easy attraction of the masses and another form of social power. 

The picture formed by three vertical images, all independent and complementary, yet sometime conflicting, represents respectively the military, the civil, and the religious power: each one represented by the same artist appropriately characterized.  The colors of each backdrop: red, white and black, in that order, compose the colors of the flag of Egypt, which symbolizes revolutions, deposition of King Faruk I by the army, proclamation of the Republic in 1952, the end of oppression by the British colonialism, and promises of social equality, liberty and unity.  But Revolution presents another reality; each one with its weapon, the militarism, the liberal market and the religious fundamentalism control and oppress. 

The video-installation Desert Sin Revisited (2003) by Abdelali Dahrouch is one of the works of greater sensuality and visual impact, without lessening the critique against the warlike-hegemonist politics of the United States government, the country where he lives. 
A projection on screen shows television images of the 1991 Gulf war, called by the Pentagon Operation Desert Storm. In front, on the ground, a sand sculpture, whose format reminds the Ten Commandments’ boards, brings written in depression George Bush’s speech that preached the invasion of Iraq as a humanitarian action for the liberation of the country.  On the sand sculpture, another projection gives the idea that the wind is blowing, consequently that what is not written on stone does not remain. 

Long-lasting will be the impression caused by Zonder Titel; a landmark not only for being the first exhibition to represent a contemporary Arab art, but also for the historical deed to bring to the museum, in the opening when the general project was presented, more visitants than any other show up to that date; congregating natives and immigrants, and to achieve a superior total public than the other initiatives of the previous twelve months. 

The high quality of the works of Zonder Titel guaranteed an excellent reception by the public and by media, being revealing and exceeding the expectations.  Four artists had works acquired by the MuHKA - some already shown in the museum 50th anniversary commemorative exhibition and publication; some others were invited to participate in other projects, in Belgium and abroad; and the contemporary art of Morocco (and why not to say, Arab in general, due to the notable contribution by the Egyptian artists) won definitively a space in the art circuit of Belgium. 

Moreover, the general project resulted in what may turn out to be the beginning of a broader cultural exchange between the countries, since it is intended to exhibit in Casablanca, in the near future, the MuHKA’s collection selected by the Moussem Club and, possibly, solo shows of Belgian artists. Zonder Titel was not simply one more show composed by Arab artists; the initiative knew how to make the difference. 

*Daniella Géo is an independent journalist and curator resident in Antwerp, Belgium. Graduated in Documentary Photography at the International Center of Photography (ICP-NY), Masters in Film and Audiovisual Studies at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III, Géo is currently developing a Doctorate research at the same department and university, with specialization in contemporary photography and art. She has published articles such as “Documentary Photography”, one of the main contributions of the Encyclopedia of the XXth Century Photography, Routledge.  Recent projects include the co-curatorship of the 5e Biennale international de la Photography et des Arts visuels de Liège (2006) and the curatorship of Black is Beautiful, at GRID – 3de Internationale Fotografie Biennale Amsterdam (2006).