Deconstructing the Code: The Woven/ Unwoven Project

Abstract

This essay presents the motivation and methodology behind Sara Ouhaddou’s work through an account of one of her early projects: a collaboration with young women studying traditional embroidery within the conservative confines of the government art school in Tetouan, Morocco. It explores how Ouhaddou’s artistic vision evolved in dialogue with these craft practitioners by challenging them to push the boundaries of traditional patterns, thereby catalyzing their own development as embroidery artists and the creation of new audiences for their work.

Keywords:

• Morocco
• Tetouan
•  craft
• embroidery
• collaboration

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara Ouhaddou

Sara Ouhaddou was born in France to a traditional Moroccan family and studied at the École Olivier De Serres Paris. Her dual culture informs her practice as a continuous dialogue in which she strikes a balance between traditional Moroccan art forms and the conventions of contemporary art, reframing the relevance of artistic and cultural continuities for new audiences. Sara participated in the Marrakech Biennale in 2016, the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival in 2017 and 2018, and Craft Becomes Modern:The Bauhaus in the Making at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in 2017. She has had solo exhibitions at the Moulin d’Art Contemporain Toulon (2015); Gaite Lyrique Tanger-Tanger, Paris (2014); and the Marrakech French Institute (2014). Her work has been supported by an Arab Fund for Art and Culture grant in 2014, and One Percent Contemporary Art in New York for the Little Syria Project in 2017. Ouhaddou has taken part in artist-residencies at Appartement 22, Rabat (2017); Culturerunners, New York (2016); Think Tanger, Tangiers (2016); Edge Of Arabia ISCP Residency, New York (2015); Dar Al Ma’mun, Morocco (2014 and 2013); and Trankat, Morocco (2014). She is represented by Galerie Polaris, Paris.