Meriem Bennani

"Young artist Meriem Bennani is one of a kind: she’s created a fictional character that designs avant-garde Hijab looks for avant-garde women, an animation series called Some Silly Stories, and added her very own touch to some music videos. The artist approaches political issues with humour rather than violence, works together with some of her relatives and has lived –and was educated– in three different countries with three different cultures. We talk to her in order to know more about such an interesting combination of elements in such a unique person.

You were born and raised in Morocco, but studied later in Paris and New York. How do you think living in such different environments affected your creativity and artistic expression? These three places are very much part of me and my work. To put it in a simple way: Morocco is home in a visceral and motherly way; France is the country I was educated by and in, and New York is the place I chose to move to as an adult. Sometimes they coexist peacefully and other times they are in big trouble with each other. These conflicts constitute the unstable ground most of my ideas are built within and on. It was also super interesting going to school in Paris and then in New York. I like to think what I learnt from school mainly resides in the cracks between two completely opposite approaches towards art education."