No Pasara
Illegal Migration by Young Moroccans as Seen through the Photographer's Lens
The work of the French-Moroccan photographer and video artist Leila Alaoui arose from her critical observation of the world. From her first project, "No Passara," the artist demonstrated her humanitarian commitment and her sense of otherness. This series of twenty-four (24) images commissioned by the European Union in 2008, whose title means "entry denied" (and refers to the famous anti-fascist slogan "No Pasarán" [They shall not pass] used during the Spanish Civil War), depicts young Moroccans dreaming of an Eldorado on the other side of the Mediterranean. She went from Beni-Mellal, in the middle of the country, to the port cities of Nador and Tangier, where she learned about illegal migration. Like an ethnographer, she observed and listened to her subjects carefully before immortalizing their mindsets. In an effort to understand this need to leave one's homeland, she even tried to make the boat crossing with three harragas (those who burn borders) who failed to complete the voyage.
Alaoui captures the essence of these desperate young people with an aesthetic filled with emotion, in which a picture is truly worth a thousand words. The sea is ever present in her careful compositions, especially in the background, alond with the poverty and aridity of the places she visited. Whether sitting, lying down or standing, her young subjects are often pensive, looking away or with their backs turned to the viewer, becoming so many metaphors for the inaccessible. Others wear shirts with exotic names written across them: France, España, Andalucía.
Leila Alaoui was born in Paris in 1982 and spend part of her childhood in Marrakesh before going to New York in 2000 to study photography, documentary film and the humanities, at the City University of New York (CUNY). She pursued her study of film with Spike Lee and Morgan Harris, as well as Shirin Neshat. In the photography studios of John M. Hall, Serge Lutens and Maripol, Alaoui refined her technique and her compositions as she developed a singular approach pushing the boundaries of art and documentary. In 2008, she returned to Morocco to pursue her career, splitting her time between Marrakesh, Beirut and Paris.
The exhibition Leila Alaoui: "No Pasara" is being presented to commemorate the death of this emerging artist who was killed during an attack carried out by Al-Qaeda in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 15, 2016. She had gone there on a photographic assignment for Amnesty International to produce a reportage on women's rights.
Click here for more information.
Click here for Leila Alaoui's official website.
No Pasara
Illegal Migration by Young Moroccans as Seen through the Photographer's Lens
The work of the French-Moroccan photographer and video artist Leila Alaoui arose from her critical observation of the world. From her first project, "No Passara," the artist demonstrated her humanitarian commitment and her sense of otherness. This series of twenty-four (24) images commissioned by the European Union in 2008, whose title means "entry denied" (and refers to the famous anti-fascist slogan "No Pasarán" [They shall not pass] used during the Spanish Civil War), depicts young Moroccans dreaming of an Eldorado on the other side of the Mediterranean. She went from Beni-Mellal, in the middle of the country, to the port cities of Nador and Tangier, where she learned about illegal migration. Like an ethnographer, she observed and listened to her subjects carefully before immortalizing their mindsets. In an effort to understand this need to leave one's homeland, she even tried to make the boat crossing with three harragas (those who burn borders) who failed to complete the voyage.
Alaoui captures the essence of these desperate young people with an aesthetic filled with emotion, in which a picture is truly worth a thousand words. The sea is ever present in her careful compositions, especially in the background, alond with the poverty and aridity of the places she visited. Whether sitting, lying down or standing, her young subjects are often pensive, looking away or with their backs turned to the viewer, becoming so many metaphors for the inaccessible. Others wear shirts with exotic names written across them: France, España, Andalucía.
Leila Alaoui was born in Paris in 1982 and spend part of her childhood in Marrakesh before going to New York in 2000 to study photography, documentary film and the humanities, at the City University of New York (CUNY). She pursued her study of film with Spike Lee and Morgan Harris, as well as Shirin Neshat. In the photography studios of John M. Hall, Serge Lutens and Maripol, Alaoui refined her technique and her compositions as she developed a singular approach pushing the boundaries of art and documentary. In 2008, she returned to Morocco to pursue her career, splitting her time between Marrakesh, Beirut and Paris.
The exhibition Leila Alaoui: "No Pasara" is being presented to commemorate the death of this emerging artist who was killed during an attack carried out by Al-Qaeda in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 15, 2016. She had gone there on a photographic assignment for Amnesty International to produce a reportage on women's rights.
Click here for more information.
Click here for Leila Alaoui's official website.