Mounir Fatmi (born 1970 in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

) is a Moroccan artist. His multimedia practice encompasses video, installation, drawing, painting and sculpture, and he works with obsolete materials.

Biography

Born in the city of Tangiers, he spent a majority of his time the neighborhood of Casabarata. This neighborhood was known as one of the poorest in the city. He would often spend his time in the flea market, where his mother made a living by selling children's clothing. It was in this very environment that he found himself surrounded by commonly used objects and waste products. As a young boy, he traveled to Rome where he studied at the free school of nude drawing and engraving at the Academy of Arts, and then later at the School of Fine Arts in Casablanca, Morocco (1989), School of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy (1991), and finally studied at the

Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In 2006, he won the Uriöt prize, the grand prize of the Dakar Biennial and the Cairo Biennial Award in 2010.

Professional career

1990–1995

In 1993, Fatmi received first prize at the Third Biennial of Young Moroccan Painting, for the "Fragile / Communication" series and met

Catherine David Catherine David (born 19 September 1954) is a French art historian, curator and museum director. David was the first woman and the first non-German speaker to curate documenta X in Kassel, Germany (21 June – 28 September 1997). David was ...

. In 1995, he becomes known outside of Morocco from his work with videos. He was selected at the International Videokunstpreis at the ZKM3 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

1996–2000

In 1999, he met curator Jean-Louis Froment and participated in the exhibition "L'objet désorienté" at the Museum of Decorative Arts in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he made the sculpture ''Connections''.

2001–2010

In 2004, Fatmi was invited by Simon Njami and Jean-Hubert Martin to participate in the exhibition "Africa remix" at the Kunstpalast museum in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, the Hayward Gallery in London, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, the Mori art museum in Tokyo, the Moderna museum in Stockholm, and the Johannesburg Art Gallery in Johannesburg. Fatmi held his solo exhibition "Fuck architects, chapter I" at the Lombard project in New York.

2011–present

Fatmi began experiencing censorship in 2011. His work Modern Times, a History of the Machine is selected for the Jameel Prize 3 of the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, in 2013, and is exhibited in group shows related to this award at the Hermitage-Kazan Exhibition Center, the

Moscow Manege The Moscow Manege (, ) is an oblong building along the west side of Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to Red Square. It is the site of Moscow Design Museum since 2012. Designed by Spani ...

, the

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization () is a museum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The museum, opened in 2008, covers Islamic culture, with more than 5,000 artifacts from the Islamic world. Objects include calligraphy, carvings, c ...

, and the

National Library of Singapore The National Library is the flagship national library of Singapore. A subsidiary of the National Library Board (NLB), it is located on an 11,304–square metre site in Victoria Street, Singapore, Victoria Street within the Downtown Core. It i ...

. In 2016, he launched The Exile Pavilion and organized the first stage at the National Archives Museum in Paris. He was selected for the exhibition "Fundamental" at the Fifth Mediations Biennale of Poznan and for the Triennial of Setouchi Awashima Community Area in Japan. In 2017, he participates in the exhibition ''The Absence of Paths: 1st Tunisian Pavilion'' at the 57th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

Work

Fatmi's videos, installations, drawings, paintings and sculptures are influenced by issues related to identity, religion, multiculturalism, consumerism, the ambiguities of language, and the importance of communication. He creates political art through the deconstruction of dead media, which represents the crumbling industrial and consumerist civilization. In his work, he uses materials such as antenna cables, copier machines, old typewriters, VHS tapes, saw blades, books, and flags, in order to create compelling compositions. Fatmi's installations and films have the specificity to be produced with archaic and outdated material, such as VHS tapes. Many of Fatmi's works are seen as subversive, such as his Brainteaser for moderate Muslims, a series of Rubik's Cubes painted in black with white stripes to imitate the

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. As a reaction to the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

, he exhibited ''The Lost Spring''.

Awards

* Shortlisted Jameel Prize 3, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
* Uriöt prize (Amsterdam) * Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor (2006) * Cairo Biennale Prize (2010)

Exhibitions

Select solo shows

Mounir Fatmi has had many solo shows to showcase his work, starting in 2006 up until 2021. All listed below have been at galleries, museums or institutions across the world. 2021 * “The Observer Effect” at the ADN Galeria in Barcelona * “Heavier than Words” at the Conrads Gallery in Berlin 2018 * “Fragmented Memory” at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg * “(IM)possible Union” at Analix Forever, in Geneva * “Darkening Process” at Analix Forever in Geneva * “Inside the Fire Circle” at Lawrie Shabibi in Dubaï * “Le Pavillon de l’exil” at the Galerie Delacroix in Tangier * “The Index and The marchine” at the ADN Platform in San Cugat del Vallès 2015 * “Modern Times” at Miami Beach Urban Studios Gallery in Miami * “Art et Patrimoine: C'est encore la nuit, Prison Qara” at the Institut Français de Meknès in Morocco 2014 * “They were blind, they only saw images” at Galerie Yvon Lambert in Paris * “The Kissing Circles” at Analix Forever in Geneva * “Art of War” at the ADN Platform in Sant Cugat del Vallès 2013 * “Intersections” at the Keitelman Gallery in Brussels * “Post Tenebras Lux” at the Festival A-Part in Les Baux-de-Provence * “Le Voyage de Claude Lévi-Strauss” at the Institut Français in Casablanca 2012 * “Kissing Circles” at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica * “Suspect Language” at the Goodman Gallery in Cape Town * “Between the lines” at Galerie Hussenot in Paris * “The Angel's Black Leg” at the Galerie Conrads in Düsseldorf 2010 * “The Beautiful Language” at the Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten in Amsterdam * “Seeing is believing” at the Galerie Hussenot in Paris * “Connexion 02” at the Galerie Delacroix in Tanger 2007 * “Sans histoire” at Musée Picasso - La guerre et la paix in Vallauris * “Fuck Architects : Chapter I” at the Lombard-Freid Projects in New York 2006 * “Tête dure / Hard head” at the Bank Galerie in Paris * “Ecrans noirs” at the Centre d'art contemporain intercommunal in Istres * “Comprendra bien qui comprendra le dernier” at the Centre d'art contemporain Le Parvis in Ibos

Select group exhibitions

Mounir Fatmi has participated in many group exhibitions, starting in 2017 up until 2021. 2021 * Setouchi Asia Forum 2021: Artists’ Breath Live (Setouchi) * The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time (New York) * Tradition Interrupted (Harrisburg) * Weatherproof (Amsterdam) * Redefining the Trend-Histories in the making (London) * Lady Dior As Seen As By (Moscow) * Seeing & Perceiving (Dhahran) * Moroccan Trilogy (Madrid) * Lady Dior As Seen By (Berlin) * Memory of Defence: Physical and Mental Architectures (Palma) * Under Construction - part one and two (Dubai) * Rêves d’été en monochrome (Geneva) * Art Front Selection 2021 spring (Tokyo) * Tradition Interrupted (Charleston) 2020 * Our world is burning (Paris) * The Pope (Krakow) 2018 * Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale (Niigata) 2017 * Tunisian Pavilion, The Absence of Paths (Venice) * 7eme Biennale d'Architecture de Shenzhen (Shenzhen) * Contemporary Creation and Social Dynamics (Dakar)

Publications

* Mounir Fatmi (Le Parvis centre d'art contemporain, 2006) * Hard Head ( Lowave, 2006) * Fuck the Architect ( Lowave, 2009) * Megalopolis (AKBank Sanat, 2010) * Ghosting (studio mounir fatmi, 2011) * Suspect Language (Skira Editore, 2012) * The Kissing Precise (LaMuette, 2014) * History is not mine (Rencontres de Bamako, 2015) * Survival Signs (SF publishing, 2017) * The Missing Show (SF publishing, 2018) * 180° Behind Me, mounir fatmi, SF Publishing (2019) * The Day of the Awakening, mounir fatmi, SF Publishing (2019) * The White Matter, SF Publishing (2019) * The Process, SF Publishing (2019) * The Index and The Machine, (2020) * Keeping Faith, Keeping Drawing (2020) * Transition State (2020) * Peripheral Vision (2020) * Fragmented Memory (2020) * A Savage Mind (2020) * They were blind, they only saw images (2020) * Inside the Fire Circle (2020) * Suspect Language (2020) * Ghosting (2020) * Kissing Circles (2020) * History is not mine (2020) * Intersections (2020) * Oriental Accident (2020) * Seeing is Believing (2020) * Light and Fire (2021) * Art of War (2021) * Something is Possible (2021) * Between the Lines (2021) * Fuck Architects: Chapter 1 (2021) * Hard Head (2021) * In Search of Paradise (2021)

References

External links

Official websiteProfile page at Artfacts.comAnalix ForeverParadise RowEdge Of Arabia - Contemporary art and creative movements from the Arab World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatmi, Mounir 1970 births Living people Moroccan contemporary artists Moroccan male artists Alumni of Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten