“Exploring Political Sensations Through the Artistic Lens of Meriem Bennani”

This piece is excerpted from the Autumn/Winter 2024 edition of AnOther Magazine:

“I observe footage of the Raja Casablanca supporters, the Ultras, chanting at soccer matches on YouTube – they’re mesmerizing. Initially, there’s the harmony of countless voices united. Following that, there are colorful flares, massive banners – picture a banner as large as a building. One time it featured Daisy Duck. And the songs are ones that typically wouldn’t be acceptable – addressing governmental corruption or Palestine. These instances provide a platform for articulating political truths that would be perilous on an individual level – there’s this safeguard of the collective as you can’t apprehend 300,000 individuals.

“I’m astonished at the lengths to which the supporters go to craft a display amid intervals of sports – it’s such a liberating environment. And everyone instinctively understands what they need to do without verbal communication, it’s a moment of harmony. I am perpetually curious about how political sentiments manifest in your body. When I view these videos, they resonate as instances of idealism – everything that we are deprived of.

“I’m fascinated by the contrasts between something that appears endearing and slight yet can amplify or even turn violent and create a seismic political shift. How something can transition from humorous to serious. Like the Tasmanian Devil cartoon figure – he’s so affectionate and charming, and he delights in consuming, but then he transforms into a whirlwind, an alarming abstraction of lines. There is always a necessity for tension – you must generate energy, even by creating a single image, for it to have an impact, to transcend itself.”

A lizard reclines on a bed in her Brooklyn residence, observing a tiger performing a sultry dance on her laptop. She shifts to a news segment featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, illustrated as a pixelated serpent, reporting on the initial spread of the Covid-19 virus. This is merely one moment from 2 Lizards, a leisurely, humorous, and emotive animated short by the New York-based Moroccan creator Meriem Bennani in collaboration with Israeli artist Orian Barki. With its eerily relatable dialogue, the film circulated online episodically during the spring of 2020, and by September 2022 was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art – although Bennani had previously showcased at the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Opening this Halloween at Fondazione Prada in Milan, Bennani’s exhibition For My Best Family will occupy two floors of the Podium structure. On the upper level, another joint project with Barki – this time featuring Bouchra, a 35-year-old leather jacket-clad North African jackal producing a film about coming out to her mother. On the ground floor, a dynamic sculptural installation of 300 flip-flops rhythmically beating in a call-and-response format – these mundane objects evoke the potency and catharsis of the crowd. 

This narrative features in the Autumn/Winter 2024 edition of AnOther Magazine, which is currently available for purchase. Place your order here.