The Mask Project
This project takes place in an old town in Morocco where Sebbani observed the complex behaviors of its people. This town, which is located in Fez, boasts the oldest and the most confusing medina in Morocco. Fez is a very religious city that is home to Al Qaraouyine, the oldest university in the world. Whoever enters Al Qaraouyine becomes a wearer of knowledge and political facts. Within this context, Sebbani created a special dress and a mask with a copper artisan to express how the most powerful part of a human being–the human mind–was conditioned by traditions to fit in this space.
The mask, which emphasizes the value of its copper material as precious, also highlights the sacredness of the face it shields. The face is untouchable—neat and protected, but also unidentifiable. An oval of an exaggerated size adorns the model like a piece of jewelry. The shape of the beehive and the fencer mask symbolizes protection from any danger, but at what cost?
Madiha Sebbani is a multidisciplinary Moroccan artist (visual and performance) who graduated from the National Institute for Fine Arts in Tetouan. She is currently enrolled in the Public Art and New Artistic Strategies Masters program at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in Germany. Sebbani’s work manifests in minimalist performances that are inspired by daily and intimate gestures. These performative acts question our relationship with what is out of the ordinary.
Sebbani particularly loves experimentation; she combines different plastic forms and techniques, which are embodied in installations, paintings, photographs, videos, and/or performances. Much of Sebbani’s work is inspired by her experiences growing up in a military base. Sebbani has recently finished an artist residency at the AIR-Artist in Residence Niederösterreich in Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria. During her time in Krems, she developed her work on masks and photography.
In 2016, she participated in the fifth edition of the New Talents Biennale in Cologne, as well as a residency and solo exhibition with Kunstraum Fuhrwekswaage at Cologne Fine Art/the COFA Contemporary. More recently, Sebbani curated and organized YMAs (Young Moroccan Artists), a moving group exhibition that has been viewed at the Sulger Buel Gallery in London and at the DEG (German Development Finance Institution) in Cologne. YMA will make its U.S. debut in New York City and Washington, DC.