Shaping art from a berber heart
Tetouan born Mohamed Senhaji now lives and works in the eastern city of Oujda, but his current work is on exhibition at the Meki Megara Gallery in Tetouan until November 28, 2014.
This exhibition is one of four gallery shows of the 2014 Night of Galleries, a new initiative only a couple of years old now. I met up with this gentle artist a few days after first meeting with him at the opening, and thought I’d share some of his heart and work with you.
Mohamed Senhaji was born in 1966 and grew up in Tetouan loving to paint and draw among the ancient streets, rich markets and mountain vistas … and listening to his parents and grandparents’ Berber tongue. As a young man in the early 1990s, he graduated from Tetouan’s prestigious National Institute of Fine Art (INBA) and went on to spend seasons of painting in both France and Marrakech before settling in Oujda. It has been 20 years since he called Tetouan his home, but still returns to visit his extended family regularly.
Tetouan has changed in many ways from when I was a kid … but I still love to return to see it.”
An accomplished painter of landscapes, both natural and urban, Senhaji has found himself digging into his roots for inspiration for painting. Living in the north-eastern Rif has continued to stir his Berber roots and his artwork today reveals his heart for his people’s culture and language. In this exhibition, huge maquettes float on the walls of the Galerie Meki Megara like great signs inviting a party.
My people have deeply held their culture in spite of the arrival of the Arabs, wars with the Roman and Byzantine empires and the advance of western culture. I want to celebrate my people.”
Upon seeing this recent series of colorful maquettes , one is immediately reminded of the unique shapes of the Berber alphabet …
Tifinagh – The official Berber alphabet of Morocco
Bright colors, running patterns reminiscent of typical Berber tattoos, and further lettering call forth more of the unique Amazigh culture, history and voice. These man-sized maquettes go beyond being mere paintings on a wall to being dancing figures or lyrical symbols floating, each one honoring the culture of Senhaji’s ancestors in its own way.
Berber culture is its own unique shape [shkel].”
Bravo, Mohamed Senhaji! Your work certainly celebrates that “shkel”.
You can continue to follow his work here >>>>