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LEILA ALAOUI - UNSEEN STORIES

April 20, 2022

April 20, 2022-November 27, 2022

Fondaco dei Tedeschi, in collaboration with Galleria Continua and the Leila Alaoui Foundation, presents from 20 April to 27 November 2022 – on the occasion of the 59th Venice Art Biennale – Leila Alaoui. Storie invisibili/Unseen stories.

The installation by the Franco-Moroccan artist is in two parts: Les Marocains and Crossings. The first presents a series of extremely large-scale photographs, of great visual impact, some of which are unpublished and exhibited at the Fondaco for the first time, on display throughout the internal courtyard of the building. The second features a set of videos and images and will be housed on the fourth floor.

Les Marocains is a wide-ranging project, which led the artist to travel the length and breadth of Morocco with a portable photographic studio, building a collective portrait of the country through its inhabitants. Together they form a mosaic of different traditions, cultures, and aesthetics, revealing many customs that are gradually disappearing. More than a documentary work, Les Marocains was a way for the young artist to discover her roots and affirm an independent aesthetic, free from any folklore, and to highlight the dignity of individuals and of an entire country.
Crossings narrates the experience of sub-Saharan migrants embarking on the perilous journey to reach the shores of Europe. It is a mix of images and videos that focuses on the collective trauma caused by the experience of crossing borders and becoming a fragile community. While exploring the experiential narratives of psychological and physical transition, the installation also refers to the concept of Europe as a problematic utopia in the African imagination. Leila Alaoui
Unseen stories

LEILA ALAOUI (1982-2016)
Artist, photographer, and video artist Leila Alaoui was born in 1982 in Paris, France, and studied photography at the University of New York City. Her work explores the construction of identity, cultural diversity, and migration in the Mediterranean area.
Since 2009 her works have been exhibited in various countries, among others at the Arab World Institute and at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, at the Malmö Konsthall in Sweden, at the Cascais Citadel Palace in Portugal and at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada, most recently at Musée Yves St Laurent in Marrakech and Somerset House in London.
In January 2016, while working for an Amnesty International commission on women's rights in Burkina Faso, Leila Alaoui was severely wounded in the terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou. She did not recover and died on 18 January 2016. The Leila Alaoui Foundation was created to preserve her work, defend her values, and inspire and support artists working to promote human dignity.

Leila Alaoui
Storie invisibili /Unseen stories.
April 20 - November 27 2022
Fondaco dei Tedeschi, free entry


Image: Leila Alaoui, Crossings, 2013, detail. Courtesy Fondation Leila Alaoui & GALLERIA CONTINUA

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