Elaborations on the New Image:
7th African Encounters of Photography, Bamako
7éme Les Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine - Aura Seikkula - december 2007

Curated by Simon Njami and organised around different dimensions of lens-based medium:  photography, new images and cinema, the 7éme Les Rencontres de la Photographie  Africaine took place between November 24 and December 23, 2007 in several venues of the  Mali capital.
The general concept of thebiennale was to transcend traditional methods of exhibiting the still/ static image; works and projects of photographers who adopt other mediums to extend their works, and visual artists working on the image through installations and time-based works on screen were given exposure to extend the limits of the biennale..

With his selection of projects, Njami looked into the city and what lies beyond, urbi and orbi, providing photographers with the opportunity to study the development of an African town, emphasising the fading of the increasingly abstract border between the town and its surroundings. This concept was devised to be a strong theme that would link to the local, public in order to lead to a return to the œuvre of great African photographers, with renowned artists who have strong roots in the African collective memory

 

(Excerpt) full article in english

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figaro madame - arab world, artists are bringing the spring - 29 january 2012

Mohamed El Baz

He sets fire to everything it touches ... And his flaming figures arouse joy and awe ! Many weapons that serve the beauty of freedom in art and acts.

The end of community myths sclerotic

The Arab spring and you .

"It is the  weakest who sets fire to the general consensus. I feel that these events have reinforced my work ... We are witnessing the end of Arab winter , community myths sclerotic , democratic taboo, complexities  linked to individual freedoms ... "

Are you a committed artist ?

"An artist is engaged between two places ... which I do not mind ! The commitment to art is a programmed minefield but when a work is in line with social and political complexities , there lies the power of art . "

What is contemporary about you?
"Imagine a card game where the assets are put into play constantly. To be contemporary is to live with the concerns of  time without being a coward.  To be autonomous,  even if the energy around you is summative... "
 

East, West.

"The world is formatted in a way that has never offered so many possibilities. The East and West forms an overall structure between proximity and contradictions facing the rest of the world in matters of religion , civilization , commerce ... These flows are going in two directions : a novelty that we have difficulty to describe ... "

A reason to get up in the morning?

My last exhibition " Bricoler I’incurable " expresses pretty much my mindset .

Read the full article in french

 

Jeune afrique - by Marie Villacèque - 21th september 2012

"The fact of belonging to the diaspora gives a tone of great freedom for  Morocco ." Working between France and Morocco, for the last twenty years Mohamed El Baz has been developing his work that continually evolves.

"I built something, I do not know the term. It is dizzying. " Since 1993, Mohamed El Baz has been creating the never ending Bricoler l’incurable. A work that aims to translate the contemporary malaise , a fate unresolved. Through his art , he seeks to challenge the viewer, specifically, by bringing to light the great upheavals of history." The details of my work are revealed as it progresses ," says the French-Moroccan artist who , with each new exhibition, designs an installation  which becomes a new part of his larger  project , his life’s vehicle.  

In early July, in a seaside town south of Tangier called Asilah, he wondered about the consequences of the Arab Spring as part of the "Horizons Croises " exhibition, headed by Brahim Alaoui, international cultural Moussem city .  With skulls drawn on the wall, he juxtaposed the flags of North African countries drained of their colors. In the middle, microphones faced outward and an oriental rug half shaved ... His commitment , he said, is primarily artistic and denies wanting to make a political statement . "Art, the more you explain, the more it diminishes," he insists.

Collections 

 
Neon yataghan,  prints on plexiglass or a skeleton surrounded by radios, each tuned to a different frequency to evoke sounds of the world ... His quest, what fascinates him,  is based on various scenic devices , video and pictures.  After seeing  an exhibition of photographer George Rodger (Magnum),  he decided to apply to the School of Fine Arts in Dunkirk (France ), where he lived with his parents. "This is where I started to use photographs as a means and not as an end ," says the 45 year old artist. Graduating in 1989 , he continued his studies for three years at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris Cergy, followed by one year at the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques, Paris. Created in 1985 by the first director of the Centre Pompidou ,Pontus Hultén,from Sweden,  the institute's training is aimed at emerging artists.

Since then, El Baz has exhibited his creations around the world, refining it after  traveling through Czechoslovakia and the United States. In 2005, thanks to "Africa Remix" ,  his work passed through Paris , Düsseldorf, Tokyo , London and Johannesburg. He designed Niquer la mort/Love suprême  with images borrowed from the media, portraits of strangers and a map where global capitals were represented by targets. A kind of charade referring to world news.

 
Diaspora
 
For this native of the Middle Atlas who emigrated to France when he was 6 years old, "The fact of belonging to the diaspora gives a tone of great freedom on Morocco ." Since he presented his first solo exhibition there in 2007, he is increasingly sought by his fellow countrymen-he exhibited his works in Casablanca in March 2013 - and strengthened his connection with his country  by marrying a Moroccan with  whom he has two children. 
 
Now spending time between Lille and Casablanca, Mohamed El Baz is preparing a monograph published by Skira for early next year and an exhibition in October contemporary art center BPS22 in Charleroi, Belgium. His quest for the "l'incurable" continues ...
 

Read this article Jeuneafrique.com (text in french )  :  Maroc : Mohamed El Baz, incurable créateur | Jeuneafrique.com the main site for information and news about Africa

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Mohamed El baz : A Modern-Day Shaman - april 2011

Mohamed El baz deploys two parts of his " Bricoler l’incurable " at L'atelier 21 in Casablanca and in JGM Gallery in Paris . Two close and complementary exhibitions, details of an attempted cure still improbable.
 
 "Despite our desire to act on the world , on situations that affect us closely, we're just mending something that is incurable by definition," Mohamed El Baz said a couple of years ago. For the last 18 years , the artist, born in 1967 in Ksiba, Morocco and graduate from l’Ecole nationale Supérieure de Paris Cergy ,has been working on the same project “Bricoler l’incurable." Photos, videos, installations , books, exhibitions, staging ... all details rooted in an unknown duration. "I said at the beginning,  I'll see when it will end,  but it doesn’t seem to end.  It has become a way of life. Bricoler l’incurable is the name of a project where everything, every element can take root, leave, then come back ... At the end, we will understand . " Focused on the issues posed by the world, life, politics, and society, Mohamed El Baz shines more light on the issues with his  “L’atelier au Cactus” where he  crosses, like a pilgrim, the places of Gharbaoui;  then Resonance exhibitions where artists were transformed into Crus  left to   improve in for a time  in the  cellar and the art market . Finally, this year, El Baz creates  modern-day shaman cures for artists themselves , literally attacking the word " incurable " that bears his project’s name. The year 2011 signified  two exhibitions growing closer, one in l’atelier 21  in Casablanca and the other at JGM Gallery in Paris. No eventual solutions,  the artist assures us , just another attempt to mend  the incurable machine which operates in several places. Talking about a possible cure in Casablanca and death in Paris. We wait  for the miracle cure to really come to grips with our incurable.
 
 
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Le soir echos - Amine Rahmouni - 18 th august 2010

Construction  a way  to invent things that do not exist to achieve a result. To be a handyman of design, in a Levi -Strauss sort of sense,  one does not  repair with small pieces of thread because it achieves nothing, it is otherwise very technical," says Mohamed El Baz , showing us  one of the key concepts of his work. Under creation  since 1993, his work  " Bricoler l’incurable. Détail”, is a diverse work,  constantly evolving, and criss crossing  multiple semantic elements . His creations - photographed faces ignited with flames, world maps juxtaposed with outstretched hands , signs of power intersected by  everyday gestures. This singular composition gives another view of the social and political reality , with sometimes  incongruous angles.  The use of space, format and projection of the works asks questions to  the viewer with  placed symbols and a play on objects with different game backgrounds. "Some projects may be formed of the same elements , we just adjust them like a game of cards. In a game, there are figures, but many gaming opportunities ", expressed the artist. Some design elements , however, persist over time , such as portraits, the presence of the text, the emanation of light in the work or the concept of archives. "Bricoler l’incurable. Détails" is long lasting. "The idea of the project does not have an ending, parts are chosen and they evolve. The project challenges itself, it lives,  it breathes. It persists because of  a requested echo, an outside desire, an invitation to participate and share something throughout this entire project ," explains Mohamed El Baz.  The project  moves through different countries, adapting to places, spaces and events.
 
Inspired  from reading Emil Ciroan Michel’s book " Les syllogismes de l’amertume. " who wrote  " To be modern is to mend the  incurable," the work that Mohamed El Baz is building  "attempts to repair" . He explains his artistic approach: " To keep with the theme of shackles, I am always looking for fault and  failures. At first, when I created the work , it was to fix something.  The title " Bricoler l’incurable. Détails " seems to be a generic name for my work. We know that something in the world, in history, is incurable or untreatable , but nothing really fixes , the world does not become more just. "  In  the absence of a more comprehensive mechanism, the view of the artist  raises many issues , both in the world of art, on society and on  history. His creations put into perspective the plurality of situations , showing divergent approaches . To view the next stage of construction by Mohamed El Baz is  the exhibition of contemporary art in  Marrakech, in October .
 

 

Le matin - Mohamed El baz, The Art of fielding by Hayat Kamal Idrissi - 13th april 2009

An  exhibition inspired by the old Jilali Gharbaoui's residence
 
Mohamed El Baz is an artist who does not like conventional things.  The evidence,   a problem surprisely seems to make him  happy . His new exhibition , which runs until May 5th at the " Atelier 21 " Casablanca confirms this. Between playing cards on black light bulbs dotted with graffiti , photographs at several levels, burning heads  and rivers ,the new work of the artist is confusing.  A palatable  confusion, however, more pleasant than the discovery of a particular universe , the quest of the conductor  that binds the thread of this works. It is impossible to remain indifferent to this open invitation to get into El Baz’s game. It is an art he has mastered , and without realizing it, the viewer is quickly drawn into this interactive maneuver.  Besides El Baz, himself, was charmed by Jilali Gharbaoui’s burning house before giving life to his recent works.
 
(Excerpt)

 

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Africa remix - teaching materials - Francesca Balladon

Francesca Balladon, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Ninon Larché, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

I can speak in somewhat generic way about my work. For ten, twelve years, this work is called "bricoler l’incurable.détail" and every time, each completed element is a detail of the whole that is working towards a completion. So the videos are a detail, the photos are a detail, the signs of protest, the gun, finally, etc.. What does it mean for me? This is a time when we decide to be "an artist" in quotation marks, to make art, for what? Is it a moment that  must be used for something? And me, I am convinced that there something that needs a little repair in the world, at least to talk about it, that’s it. 

(Excerpt)

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Art actuel - Jean-Claude Saint-Hilaire - 2005

Inter : art actuel, n° 91, 2005, p. 58-59.
 

« Bricoler l’incurable. Gold Save the Queen [installation from Mohamed El baz] : profession mythologue »
 

> JEAN-CLAUDE ST-HILAIRE
 

Originally from Morocco and living in Lille, France , where he teaches, Mohamed EL BAZ presented to the contemporary art center (le Lieu) , yet another chapter of his Bricoler l'incurable project , which began in 1993.The odyssey is an observation of life: it is particularly watchful of economic information- political, social , ethical - and those on the international situation and consumption. All this is accompanied by his emotional traces , the absolutely perfect foil . He uses the media as a search engine, as a collection and its traces of the world through a set time. It should be noted that originally the project lasted ten years and actually ended in 2003. The richness of the process, however,  led to prolonging the operation. The installations develop a chapter, an artistic synthesis , a kind of " polaroid " multifaceted and " multi source ," a reading guided by  selected filters. It is an "installed" system , completely open, where the public is invited to roam between different levels, different meanings activated by the creations of  the artist. The Quebec chapter was titled Gold Save the Queen .

(Excerpt)

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Intervista - Audrey Mascina

 

Audrey Mascina (AM): You call your work since 1993 under the generic name "Bricoler l’incurable, details”  why did you choose to name and summarize your work in this way? What does it signify?

 

Mohamed El Baz (M.E.B):  It is not a summary of me. From the beginning, I had in mind the desire to build a workplace where each element is linked to a set. Building every detail increases the machine called "Bricoler l’incurable."   so I gave all of my work one name,  I think of the  Arts, my position as an artist has only one aim, that of fixing things around me. I proposed this mending the incurable that surrounds us through targeted information in different contexts. 

 
full article in french on the pdf document

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Le Monde - Harry Bellet - 05 th June 1999

The exhibition of contemporary Moroccan artists is multidisciplinary: it rubs shoulders with  the visual arts, but on Fridays and Saturdays, it also listens to live  music, it  listens to  ballots or fashions of the world. A complete  immersion of Morocco that shows the remote folklore of Morocco.  Composed of  fourteen artists, they do not deny their origins, living through many international adventures: Mohamed El Baz lives in Lille, Dounia Oualit in Berlin, Lamia Naji in Madrid, Abderrahim Yamou and Najia Mehadji live in Paris and its region. 

(Excerpt)