Comptoir des Mines Galerie is pleased to participate in Art Dubai for the fifth time in a row, presenting a dialogue between modern moroccan artist Mohammed Kacimi and contemporary moroccan artists Fatiha Zemmouri, Khadija Jayi, Mustapha Akrim and Mohamed Arejdal. The dialogue, rich by each individual artistic language, engages on issues that seem never to be resolved, building on the historical legacy of Mohammed Kacimi, who enriched the role of the activist artist like no other before him - witness of tragedies in Middle East and Africa.

From the dawn of Morocco's independence between 1953 and 1955, contemporary Moroccan artists have been political actors, using their visual language to address their ideas and, in a way, resist an order that did not convince them. This tradition was carried on beyond independence, notably for the Palestinian cause during the 1960s and 1970s, when artists from the Casablanca movement - also known as Casablanca Art School, expressed their support for the Palestinian people and evinced their anger for the domination of the North (or Western societies) over the countries of the South. Building on the historical legacy of Mohammed Kacimi, who enriched the role of the activist artist like no other before him - witness of tragedies in Iraq, Palestine and West Africa, Comptoir des Mines Galerie seeks to present Art Dubai a project where four other artists from different generations respond to him with their artistic practices on issues that seem never to be resolved.

Mohammed Kacimi (1942-2003) was one of the pioneering artists in the history of Moroccan art and tirelessly campaigned against domination or the complicit role of certain Western countries in unjust conflicts such as in Iraq (1991), West Africa and Palestine (since 1969). A privileged witness to many conflicts, which he documented during various travels, he invented a new dimension to the role of the Arab or African artist - one of a witness or whistleblower "to recount what is happening or about to happen." The works exhibited in this project were created in the early 1990s and resonate with the creation of CNN, the first specialized televised broadcast media, which covered the Iraq war live, where images of the conflict flooded the public imagination.

Fatiha Zemmouri (1966-) speaks to us of this earth suffering from the conflicts it harbors. Like a bleeding wound, her work indicates the intensity of the conflicts and the chaos they generate, with numerous repercussions.

Khadija Jayi (1989-) creates a composition using fire and ash, cutting out photographs of children's eyes - "innocent victims" of the conflict in Gaza, from various magazines, recomposing them into a giant mosaic to create a sensitive, vibrant and poignant work.

Mustapha Akrim (1981-), an artist from the generation 2000s, has continuously mastered various materials such as concrete and metal to address the universality of human rights from different perspectives and highlight the abstraction in their formulations or applications depending on the territories or cultures.

Mohamed Arejdal (1984-) stands in the world as a lucid and committed witness, refusing to look away in the face of the most flagrant injustices. His commitment to the Palestinian cause is part of an artistic reflection that began in 2012, during an artistic residency at the Makan, an art space in Jordan. There, he produced a seminal work, VALISE 1948, denouncing the forced displacement to which the Palestinian people were subjected during the 1st Nakba, right up to the present day. Since then, Arejdal has continued to question the duality of ‘tarhil’ (forced displacement) and ‘Tirhal’ (nomadism), reminding us of the condition of those for whom wandering is an imposed exile.

These artists, gathered together, each in their own way, speak about destruction and resilience, constantly traveling between the intimate and universal scale, where humans confront their fears and anger to create and transmit.