Rarely has theatricality been as central to Majida Khattari's artistic approach as in this exhibition curated by writer, essayist and playwright Rachid Benzine. The photographs and sets were shot at the Théâtre du Manège, scène nationale de Maubeuge (France). Majida Khattari, who has made staging the hallmark of her sumptuous photographs, has this time chosen a theater, with its huge stage, to express herself freely, while rooting her works in the setting that in a way determines their aesthetic DNA.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
In her photographic works, Majida Khattari revisits and recreates the clichés that dominate Orientalist painting. By reconstituting settings inspired by famous Orientalist compositions, Majida Khattari “contemporizes” her characters, endowing them with an uncertain status that is both fantasy and photographic reality.
