The annual international Symposium of the Asilah-Briech House of Contemporary Art is back for its third edition, from May 26 to June 4, through a quite exceptional theme: "The gold route from Sijilmassa to Timbuktu". This time, it promises art enthusiasts and amateurs a whole journey through a dozen African countries through their contemporary creativity.
Artists from Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and Morocco, sharing the same common cultural heritage, thus intend to renew it through another look, making us discover what African art really is, from the historical itinerary of gold from Sijilmassa to Timbuktu. A brilliant idea that the Association for Art and Culture (APAC) took the trouble to realise by bringing together all these African artistic forces in Morocco, while proceeding throughout the event to the organisation of meetings, debates, painting workshops, and installations as well as musical and poetic evenings.
"In parallel with these activities, we are organising, on May 27, a symposium around 'the impact of African art on Western art' where several artists, critics, and intellectuals from Africa and the Orient will speak. But, it must also be said, this gathering of artists during this symposium allows visual artists to work together, to discuss art in these African countries. These are great moments of intimacy where there is an exchange of visual experiences, which naturally gives rise to interferences that we feel in the work of some. This is what warms our hearts, despite the few means we have to fulfil our dream. That of being recognised and moving forward with our project in which we strongly believe. Because we are all, in our association, passionate and convinced by what we do. We wish that culture and art one day become one of the essential concerns of our country. Since it is through them that we convey the image of Morocco open to the world. A Morocco of sharing, tolerance, peace, and dynamism," underlines Ahlam Lemseffer, artist and president of the APAC.
This Symposium thus comes to strengthen the cultural ties between Morocco and its continent, Africa, after the success of the previous themes which celebrated Moroccan artists of the world, as well as those of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This third project, organised under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, is intended to be a space for meetings and exchanges between artists from Africa, whose creativity has always inspired many Western visual artists, as specified by the visual artist Ahlam Lemseffer. She adds that despite this influence, recognised by some of them, "African art is often reserved for anthropological museums.
We only retain masks, naive painting, and recovery art. By carrying out this Symposium, we intend to refute this prejudice and make people discover the true facet of this art, which is so rich and diversified. Because Africa is the cradle of contemporary art. We indeed tend to ignore or forget that African art is at the origin of Western art. At the beginning of the 20th century, many European artists were inspired by African art by discovering it during the Universal Exhibition. Among them, we can name Gauguin, Picasso, Derain, Braque, Matisse, Vlaminck, and many others. Moreover, Picasso had declared having found his path after having discovered African art," explains the visual artist Ahlam Lemseffer.
