Mous Lamrabat
- Exposition
Practical information
- Date et heure
- Location Galerie Le Château d'Eau
- Public Tout Public
The artist takes advantage of his dual culture to use, with humour, the codes of luxury combined with traditional Moroccan objects to convey a message of peace and to reunite the Western and Eastern worlds. Exhibition presented in collaboration with the Loft Art Gallery, Casablanca.
Welcome to Mousganistan
Fashion and contemporary art have long maintained a form of exchange and dialogue, Just like photography and fashion. However, the relationship evolved in the early 1980s, when fashion designers and photographers were officially recognised as artists. It was profoundly transformed when the major luxury houses called on these fashionable designers. It must be said that this corresponded to the globalised evolution of the relationship with clothing and, beyond, with consumption. Everything becomes a brand, or it will no longer exist.
Mous Lamrabat is aware of all this . He observes it in his own way, but does not judge anything. He stages, with a scathing sense of humour, a world that is becoming absurd by dint of repeating codes and acronyms. He does this with a rare talent as a colourist, and knows how to create paintings that conjure surrealist echoes
It is not clear whether these are fashion photos, parodies of fashion photos, critical images of the world of fashion and consumption, creative stagings, or perhaps a little of all of these at once.
This Moroccan native who grew up and studied in Belgium also knows how to assert his culture of origin, by exacerbating its features, and its women, who have disappeared under shimmering veils, can go to McDonald’s, converse with young people in immaculate djellabas bearing a huge Nike “Swoosh”, walk in the desert or lean against the ochre of a cob wall. « I like to connect different parts of the world, namely ‘the West’ and ‘the East’ because I am both..»
Welcome to Mousganistan.
Christian Caujolle, Curator
“I live in two worlds, and as a designer, it doesn’t get any better than that. My work is 50% of what I want to say. The other half is whoever is looking.”
Mous Lamrabat
Text by Kristi Ann Jones: Mous Lamrabat, citizen of the world
Extract from the Loft Art Gallery’s catalogue, Casablanca – Solo show, 24 March – 30 April 2022
Moroccan-Belgian photographer Mous Lamrabat fashions a parallel universe, where he filters his own multicultural brand through humour, empathy, and irreverence. He reverses North African stereotypes,
North African stereotypes, cleverly layering Western brands and pop culture with symbols from his Euro-African heritage, and his faith. The result ? Jubilation. Colour, boldness and skilful direction define his work, with a positive energy that is as irresistible as it is provocative. Born in an Amazigh village in northern Morocco, Mous Lamrabat grew up in Belgium, where he remembers feeling different from others, and this otherness has fuelled his photographic vision.
It was during a trip to Morocco that he had a revelation, like a flash of light :
“Everything was there, right in front of me.”
He started to build a crowded universe, where nothing is forbidden and everyone starts to mix. The characters that emanate from his works go where they want, and become whoever they wish to embody. Ethno hangings with lunar landscapes, logos, balloons, hearts and flowers take us on an exotic journey; he shares his world, where imagination runs wild. With a transcultural mindset and his non-binary view of this world and how to navigate it, Mous Lamrabat breaks down barriers and spreads his doctrine of inclusion and diversity: “I am a citizen of the world.”
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Born in 1984 in Morocco – Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium
Mous Lamrabat moved to Belgium as a child. The Moroccan-Belgian artist is very proud of his origin and, like many others who lead a diaspora life, he has been confronted with the question of identity. Between Moroccan and Belgian, Mous chose the former. His passions and the pillars of his art come together around three notions: the power of women, the absurdity of racism and the beauty of Africa. Sometimes, in his photographs, these three anchor points are combined into one. Spontaneity is at the heart of his creativity and humour. However, the presence of brands in Mous’ photographs is not intended for branding or advertising It is a cultural exhibition. And that, in his own words, has been and will always be his main objective.
- – 2023: Exhibition at the Galerie Le Château d’Eau, (Toulouse – France).
- – 2022: Exhibition at the Loft Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco).
- – 2021: Exhibition “We gonna be alright” at the Fotomuseum Antwerp (Belgium).
- – 2019: Exhibition “Mousganistan” – Stedelijk Museum (Saint Nicolas, Belgium).
- – 2019: “East to East” exhibition – Manarat Al Saadiyat Gallery (Abu Dhabi -UAE).
Young Audience
To accompany you in your visit to the exhibition, a family booklet for children aged 7 to 12 is available online and on site.
La presse en parle
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Le travail de Mous Lamrabat mêle héritage culturel traditionnel, influences occidentales et luxe ostentatoire. Son univers coloré et subtilement provoquant s’installe à Toulouse dans une exposition à la Galerie Le Château d’Eau, du 2 juin au 27 août 2023.
Read the publication -
Du 2 juin au 27 août 2023, le Mousganistan s’installe au Château d’eau de Toulouse et déploie toutes les facettes de l’univers baroque, positif et généreux de Mous Lamrabat, joyeusement à cheval entre ses deux cultures marocaine et belge.
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La Galerie du Château d’Eau de Toulouse met à l’honneur le photographe Mous Lamrabat à l’occasion de sa grande exposition estivale, avec ses images fortes et séduisantes.
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À Toulouse, dans l’univers coloré et provocateur du photographe Mous Lambarat
Read the publication
Le photographe maroco-belge Mous Lamrabat joue de sa double identité pour proposer des œuvres décalées entre société de consommation et tradition marocaine.