Mahal Art Space Exhibition Kicks Off in Tangier

Fez – Morocco’s northern city Tangier is hosting an important art exhibition that sheds light on the different shapes of contemporary art to create a harmonious space for cultural and artistic exchange. 

Mahal Art Space, a Morocco-based independent art space is hosting the event in collaboration with the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT), an intermediary non-profit organization. 

The exhibition entitled “What Dies Last” tackles the different aspects of contemporary art through a multidisciplinary gallery that features both Moroccan and Taiwanese artists. Hence, the artists will share their works, thoughts, and experiences with the public.

The event was launched on December 4 and will continue until January 8, 2022, providing the Moroccan public with a unique opportunity to discover eastern Asian art, and particularly Taiwanese art. 

Through its art pieces, the exhibition tackles the current global issues from a local and narrow perspective, indicating that art, no matter how trivial it seems, can take an active role in creating a better future.

This will be seen in the presence of the Taiwanese artist Cheng Ya Hsuan, one of the 20 artists who were shortlisted for this year’s Focal Anual Jury Prize for Taiwan Annual, an open contemporary art platform. The Taiwanese artist’s works depict her conception of life, time, people, consciousness, and the relationships that bring them together. 

The event will also feature the participation of seven Moroccan artists, all graduates of the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan (INBA), who will share their works with the public for the first time, giving this new generation of artists a golden opportunity to boost their career.

The works of these young artists vary, ranging from the exhibition of Moroccan heritage in an abstract but peculiar mold to the discussion of current challenges, such as climate change, using imaginary characters inspired by mythologies.

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Introductory overview about the organizers

This art gallery is the fruit of cooperation between the Taiwanese association AVAT and the Moroccan art space “Mahal Art Space”, seeking to establish intercultural exchange and the sharing of artistic experiences. 

The Association of Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT) is a non-profit intermediate organization founded in 1999 to promote the visual arts in Taiwan. It has been dedicated to “developing and integrating the existing resources in the visual arts environment, supervising government cultural policies, and supporting or planning related visual arts and innovation projects”. 

The association aims to promote art education among the public by organizing different lectures, art exhibitions, and international exchange projects.

Mahal Art Space is a “multi-faceted, open, and experimental art space that showcases, designs, and hosts exhibits, presentations, meetings, screenings, workshops, and residencies to encourage critical thinking about today’s society, lifestyle, and history.”

The space provides an opportunity for growth and education for both the public and the artist. 

For the artist, it aims to provide a haven of freedom and reflection, given the opportunity for one’s development and boost of professional career. While, for the audience, it is considered an exotic place to discover and unveil new narratives and stories. 

To this aim, the exhibition is a moment of intercultural discourse and experience sharing, where artists of different cultural backgrounds meet, to share and discuss their artistic works. 

Through their artwork, these artists highlight today’s global issues and reflect the audience’s internal concerns in a peculiarly artistic way. 

The audience also has an unprecedented opportunity to discover Taiwanese culture and artistic peculiarities depicted by the participating artists, as well as a chance to be the first to witness the innovative works of Morocco’s new generation of contemporary artists. 

The exhibition is open from Wednesday to Friday from 4 pm to 6 pm, while on Saturday, it is open from 10 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 6 pm.