Karim Bennani

Born on January 2, 1936 in Fez and passing away in 2023 in Rabat, Karim Bennani stands among the founding figures of modern Moroccan painting.

His career—at the intersection of tradition and the avant-garde—embodies the emergence of an independent artistic consciousness in a Morocco seeking its own forms of expression after independence. Coming from a family open to literature and science, he first pursued business studies before joining the Academy of Arts in Fez in 1951. From the outset, he distinguished himself through his intellectual curiosity and his desire to move beyond academic imitation. This thirst for exploration led him in 1954 to Paris, accompanied by Farid Belkahia, where he attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian. These intense and formative Parisian years brought him into direct contact with European modern movements and the key aesthetic debates of the time, while reinforcing his sense of identity.

Returning to Morocco in the late 1950s, Bennani quickly established himself as one of the pioneers of a generation determined to build an autonomous national artistic scene, liberated from the orientalist gaze. In 1964, he took part in founding the Moroccan Association of Visual Arts, which he would later preside over, becoming one of the most influential voices advocating for the recognition of Moroccan artists and the institutional status of the visual arts at a time when cultural infrastructures were still in their infancy.

His work, primarily pictorial, is defined by an abstract and gestural approach that blends the rigor of drawing with the freedom of gesture and a meditative breath. His paintings explore the tension between silence and radiance, memory and erasure, using sober colours, allusive masses, and internal rhythms that seem to carry their own quiet pulse. Far from any decorative or folkloric intent, Bennani sought to anchor modernity within a Moroccan visual memory, creating a dialogue between Andalusian heritage, vernacular motifs, and European lyrical abstraction. His approach paved the way for a liberated vision of modern art in Morocco—one detached from exoticism and rooted in the universal.

Throughout his career, Bennani exhibited regularly, both in Morocco and internationally: at Galerie Bab Rouah (Rabat), the Villa des Arts in Casablanca, the Galerie Nationale in Rabat, as well as in France, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, the United States, Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Egypt. His works are held in numerous private and public collections, including the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) in Rabat, along with several major foundations and heritage institutions.

His work continues to be featured in major retrospectives dedicated to modern Moroccan painting, where his pioneering role is consistently acknowledged and celebrated.

See the works
Karim Bennani

Exhibitions & Awards

CURRICULUM VITAE

Born in Fez, January 2, 1938

1951–1953 — Academy of Arts, Fez
1954–1959 — École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Académie Julian
Atelier Charpentier

 

EXHIBITIONS
1955 A. Bennani, Moroccan Landscapes, Paris, Galerie du Passeur – Librairie
1957 Paris – Galerie du Bac / Tunis – Maghrebian Artists
1958 Damascus – Aleppo – Rabat – Washington
1958 Alexandria Biennial
1958 1st Paris Biennial / Rabat – Fez
1961 2nd Paris Biennial / Rabat – Fez
1963 3rd Paris Biennial / Rabat – Fez
1962 Paris – 2000 Years of Art in Morocco, Salle Charpentier
1962 Rabat – International Encounter
1964–1965 Rabat – Galerie Bab Rouah
1965–1970 Rabat, Spain, Brussels
1972 Casablanca – Group exhibition
1973 Rabat – Cheffaj, Meghara, Belkahia, Bennani, Galerie Structure BS
Casablanca – Moroccan Association of Visual Arts
Algeria – Moroccan Cultural Week
Tunisia – Algeria – Moroccan Cultural Week
Baghdad – Arab Biennial of Visual Arts
1974 1st Congress of the Union of Arab Visual Artists, Baghdad / Secretariat Member
1975 Tunis – Rabat – Fez – Meknes / 2nd Arab Biennial of Visual Arts
1975 Kuwait – Group exhibition
1977 Rabat – 2nd Arab Biennial of Visual Arts
1978 Qatar – Group exhibition
1979 Rabat – Structure B.S.
1981 Tunisia – Group exhibition
1983 Qatar – Group exhibition
1986 Rabat – Group exhibition
1987 Casablanca – Galerie Alif-Ba
1988 Casablanca – Bank Al Wafae (Moroccan Artists Exhibition)
Egypt – Cairo & Alexandria (29 Moroccan artists)
1991 Rabat – Galerie Bab Rouah (AMAP – Solidarity with Iraqi people)
1992 Seville Exhibition / Rabat – Galeries Oudayas, Bab Rouah & Bab Lekbir
1994 Casablanca – Exhibition & book signing “Karim Bennani – 30 Years of Painting”
Baghdad – Galerie Meridien – Solo exhibition
1995–1996 Rabat, Fez, Bordeaux, Paris – “Imprints on Carpet”
1996 Monte Carlo – International Contemporary Art Fair
Casablanca – Galerie Al Manar – Solo exhibition
1997 Rabat – Organisation of the Inter-Arab & Mediterranean Encounter
Abu Dhabi – “Imprints on Carpet”
1998 Paris – Petite Galerie
1999 Paris – Art Paris
Lille – “Shared Painters”
International Salon of Visual Arts
1999–2001 Paris – Salons d’Automne
2000 Beirut, Amman, Tokyo, Paris – Group exhibitions
2002 Rabat – Galerie Bab Rouah
2003 Helsinki – Group exhibition

 

ACHIEVEMENTS
1965 Restinga – Mural for Club Méditerranée
1972 Rug for Hôtel Ramadan
1974 Casablanca – Comanav – Mural for ship “Agadir”
1975 Rabat – Wall tapestry for UAE Ambassador’s Residence
1981–1984 Mural for ship “Marrakech”
Rabat – Public fountain, Avenue Mohammed V
1988 Rabat – Edition of four recent works
1989 Rabat – Mural at the Ministry of Transport
1992 Rabat – Publication “Karim Bennani – 30 Years of Painting”
1997 Rabat – Mural at ONEP building – Bouregreg Station
1998 Residence of Prof. Benchekroun – Mural
1999 Publication “Travel Sketchbooks”
Rabat – Private residence mural
2003 Rabat – Two murals, private residence

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