“As each perspective is unique, each centre is subjective.” (Alya Sebti)

Marrakech is a cultural, geographical and artistic crossroads between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, East and West. As a metaphorical centre, the city and its art biennial are in the focus of the exhibition Carrefour/Treffpunkt – The Marrakech Biennale and Beyond in the ifa Gallery Berlin.

For Carrefour/Treffpunkt the curator Alya Sebti has invited participants of past editions of the Marrakech Biennale to create a new space for encounter and exchange. The exhibition encompasses works that have been shown at the Marrakech Biennale 2014 as well as new ideas and projects developed especially for the ifa Galleries. Carrefour/Treffpunkt includes sculptures, installations, sound and video works as well as a piece that connects poetry and scent. The audience is invited to explore the idea of a subjective centre as a space from which the individual speaks and at which different roads cross.

In recent years the ifa Galleries Berlin and Stuttgart have presented various international biennials which were, like the Marrakech Biennale, supported by the ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations). The ifa is in charge of the German pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale, and as an actor in international artistic exchange it gives impulses in the discussions about the modes of operation of art biennials.

Participating artists: Saâdane Afif, Leila Alaoui, Yassine Balbzioui, Max Boufathal, Megumi Matsubara, Clara Meister and S.T.I.F.F.

Curator: Alya Sebti

Opening: Thursday, 16 July 2015, 19:00

Special opening hours during the Berlin Art Week, 15–20 September 2015, 12:00–20:00

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication, available for 7 EUR.

EVENTS

Friday, 17 July 2015, 16:00
Exhibition talk
Saâdane Afif, Yassine Balbzioui, Max Boufathal, Megumi Matsubara, and Clara Meister and S.T.I.F.F. present their works; curator Alya Sebti explicates the exhibition concept. You will have the opportunity to explore and discuss the exhibition during a tour together with the artists and the curator.

Thursday, 17 September 2015, 19:00
Participants talk (artists, curators & writers)
Carrefour/Treffpunkt understands itself as a moment of encounter between individual trajectories where the intersections constantly draw new routes. Together with the participants who have contributed to the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue, the talk will focus on the dialogue between cultural practices that shift and challenge our notion of the centre.
With Alya Sebti, curator of the exhibition, the participants of the exhibition Saâdane Afif, Clara Meister and S.T.I.F.F., and catalogue authors Nico Anklam (curator/author, Berlin) and Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (curator, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin). – In English

Thursday, 1 October 2015, 19:00
art education in practice: Radijojo Morocco – Children and Teenagers use the media for peace, democracy and children’s rights
Thomas Röhlinger, founder, senior educator and editor-in-chief of Radijojo World Children’s Media Network, presents the project Radijojo Morocco. Which possibilities does the medium radio offer for transcultural political education? The project “We are Morocco’s future” was supported by the ifa programme zivik from 2012 to 2014 in the framework of the transformation partnerships with North Africa/the Middle East.

Tuesday, 1 September 2015, 18:00–21:00
Dance workshop: Triangle, circle, tangent – geometries of encounter
In the framework of the 5th Marrakech Biennale artist Saâdane Afif invited for a geometry lesson on Marrakech’s main square each night. One of the resulting drawings served as a model for producing a traditional Berber carpet. In the workshop we experiment with the possibilities of artistic translation – and invite for an exploration through dance: (how) can you dance the carpet?

With Heike Kuhlmann (dancer, choreographer and dance educator)

Artistic workshops and exhibition talks for school classes of all ages are available on request.
Attendance of the art educational programmes is free of charge.
Information and registration: kunstvermittlung@ifa.de, +49.30.28449140

www.ifa.de