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Nassim Azarzar - The Edge of the Forest, 2024 - Hotel Ladinia, Ortisei

Nassim Azarzar, The Edge of the Forest, 2024. Wallpainting. Variable Dimensions. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 9. Photo by Tiberio Sorvillo

Nassim Azarzar explores popular visual forms of representation in his home country, developing his own original language – arising from the encounter between forms of craftsmanship, painting, graphic design and experimental approaches – that restores the complexity of his identity as a French-born Moroccan artist. For several years now he has been working on a project entitled Bonne route, in which he examines the decorative practices of the camion transporting goods between the port cities of Tangier, Casablanca and Agadir and the Moroccan villages of the Atlas and Rif mountain ranges. From here he has developed a visual language that combines the North African landscape with abstract and figurative elements in a system of signs.

For the exterior façade of the historic Hotel Ladinia in the centre of Ortisei, one of the traditional exhibition spaces of the Biennale Gherdëina 9, Nassim Azarzar created a mural painting with a decorative character based on abstract codes that tell of a profound connection between man, nature and the universe. Azarzar developed the language of this work as part of a long-term research project in Morocco. The depictions combine the world of shapes and colours of North Africa with the stories and landscapes of the Dolomite region. Like the tiles of a Moroccan mosaic, Azarzar divides the mural into segments that tell different stories, all converging into a larger narrative. In this way, many small windows into ‘another’ world are created, where the cultures of North Africa and the Alpine arc converge. (S.G.)

NASSIM AZARZAR

Nassim Azarzar (1989, France) researches decorative arts, painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, and experimental cinema. Before joining QANAT, a collective of artists and researchers exploring the political and poetic dimensions of water, in 2019, Azarzar co-founded and initiated multiple creative endeavours, amongst them: Atelier Superplus, a design studio operating between Paris, Bristol, and Tangier; Think Tanger, a platform dedicated to the exploration of the city of Tangier; and Atelier Kissaria, focused on experimental printing practices. Recent exhibitions include Malhoun, Marrakesh; LoftArt Gallery, Casablanca; Documenta 15, Kassel; Lot 219, Fès; ZKM Institut, Stuttgart; and Kulte Contemporary Art Center, Rabat. (S.G.)

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Nassim Azarzar - The Edge of the Forest, 2024 - Hotel Ladinia, Ortisei

Nassim Azarzar, The Edge of the Forest, 2024. Wallpainting. Variable Dimensions. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 9. Photo by Tiberio Sorvillo

Nassim Azarzar explores popular visual forms of representation in his home country, developing his own original language – arising from the encounter between forms of craftsmanship, painting, graphic design and experimental approaches – that restores the complexity of his identity as a French-born Moroccan artist. For several years now he has been working on a project entitled Bonne route, in which he examines the decorative practices of the camion transporting goods between the port cities of Tangier, Casablanca and Agadir and the Moroccan villages of the Atlas and Rif mountain ranges. From here he has developed a visual language that combines the North African landscape with abstract and figurative elements in a system of signs.

For the exterior façade of the historic Hotel Ladinia in the centre of Ortisei, one of the traditional exhibition spaces of the Biennale Gherdëina 9, Nassim Azarzar created a mural painting with a decorative character based on abstract codes that tell of a profound connection between man, nature and the universe. Azarzar developed the language of this work as part of a long-term research project in Morocco. The depictions combine the world of shapes and colours of North Africa with the stories and landscapes of the Dolomite region. Like the tiles of a Moroccan mosaic, Azarzar divides the mural into segments that tell different stories, all converging into a larger narrative. In this way, many small windows into ‘another’ world are created, where the cultures of North Africa and the Alpine arc converge. (S.G.)

NASSIM AZARZAR

Nassim Azarzar (1989, France) researches decorative arts, painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, and experimental cinema. Before joining QANAT, a collective of artists and researchers exploring the political and poetic dimensions of water, in 2019, Azarzar co-founded and initiated multiple creative endeavours, amongst them: Atelier Superplus, a design studio operating between Paris, Bristol, and Tangier; Think Tanger, a platform dedicated to the exploration of the city of Tangier; and Atelier Kissaria, focused on experimental printing practices. Recent exhibitions include Malhoun, Marrakesh; LoftArt Gallery, Casablanca; Documenta 15, Kassel; Lot 219, Fès; ZKM Institut, Stuttgart; and Kulte Contemporary Art Center, Rabat. (S.G.)