By 2012 the Marrakech Biennale was a firm fixture on the global arts calendar and ambitions expanded ever further with a five-day opening event which premiered work by 37 invited artists. The 4th Edition of The Marrakech Biennale opened on 29 February and was co-ordinated by Jessica Bannister. Entitled Higher Atlas, the main exhibition was curated by Dr Nadim Samman and Carson Chan and shown at multiple venues rhe Théâtre Royal, Koutoubia Cisterns, Bank Al-Maghrib, Cyber Parc Arsat Moulay Abdeslam and Dar Al-Ma’mûn in Marrakech. The title ‘Higher Atlas’ connotes reverie and transcendence and suggests a cartography of the beyond. A key focus was the artisanal traditions of Morocco and all new site-specific commissions were conceived and created on location with local craftspeople and manufacturers. Over thirty international artists, architects, writers, musicians and composers showed their work, including Karthik Pandian, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Juergen Mayer, Andrew Ranville, Felix Kiessling, Finnbogi Petursson and Turner Prize nominated Roger Hiorns. The exhibition sought to engage in an expansive dialogue with the city.

Participants

Visual Arts Aleksandra Domanović, Anri Sala, Alex Schweder La & Khadija Carroll La, Alexander Ponomarev, Andrew Ranville, Barkow Leibinger: Frank Barkow & Regine Leibinger, project architect: Gustav Düsing, Christopher Mayo, CocoRosie (Bianca Casady, Sierra Casady), Elín Hansdóttir, Ethan Hayes-Chute, Eva Grubinger, Faouzi Laatiris, Felix Kiessling, Finnbogi Pétursson, Florian & Michael Quistrebert, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Hadley+Maxwell, Hassan Darsi, Joe Clark, Jon Nash, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Juergen Mayer H., Karthik Pandian, Katarzyna Przezwańska, Katia Kameli, Leung Chi Wo, Luca Pozzi, Matthew Stone & Phoebe Collings-James, Megumi Matsubara, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Roger Hiorns, Sinta Werner, Sophie Erlund, Tue Greenfort, Younes Baba-Ali, جماعة

Film

Alan Yentob, Anthony Horowitz, Dominic West, Faouzi Bensaidi, Hicham Larsi, Jill Green, Kevin Macdonald, Lamia Chraibi, Lubna Azabal, Michael Souvignier, Mohammed Bakrim, Matthew Bannister, Narjiss Nejjar, Suzy Gillet

Literature

Abderrahim Elkhassar, Ali Benmakhlouf, Anthony Horowitz, Ben Okri, Camille de Toledo, Driss Ksikes, Geoff Dyer, Latifa Baqa, Omar Berrada, Pankaj Mishra, Rabia Raihane, Rian Malan, Zahia Rahmani