The French-Moroccan artist, photographer and video artist Leila Alaoui was born in 1982, and studied photography at the City University of New York. Her work explores the building of identity, cultural diversity and migration in the Mediterranean area. She used photography and video to express various social realities through a visual language lying on the boundary between the documentary and the plastic arts. Since 2009 her works have been shown in various countries, amongst other places, at the Institut du Monde Arabe and at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, at the Konsthall of Malmoe in Sweden, in the national palace of the citadel of Cascais in Portugal, or at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Montreal, Canada.
Alaoui’s humanitarian commitment also included various photographic missions for prominent NGOs, such as the Danish Refugee Council, Search for Common Ground and HCR. In January 2016, while working on an Amnesty International commission about women’s rights in Burkina Faso, Leila Alaoui was seriously wounded in the terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou. She did not recover, and died on 18 January 2016. The Fondation Leila Alaoui was set up to preserve her work, defend her values and inspire and support artists working to promote human dignity.
2017
MAROCAINES AU DEVANT DE LA SCÈNE, French Institute, Essaouira, Morocco
NO PASARA, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada
JE TE PARDONNE, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
JE TE PARDONNE, Collection Lambert en Avignon, Avignon, France
2016
JE TE PARDONNE, Galleria Continua, Boissy-le-Châtel, France
CROSSINGS, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
COURAGE, Palácio da Cidadela, Cascais, Portugal
2015
LES MAROCAINS, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
2011
CASABLANCA FRENCH INSTITUTE, Villa Zevaco, Casablanca, Morocco
2017
Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE, Le CENTQUATRE-PARIS, Paris, France
ART PARIS, Grand Palais, Paris, France
AFRIQUES CAPITALES, Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France
AFRIQUES CAPITALES, Gare Saint-Sauveur, Lille, France
L’AFRIQUE EN CAPITALE, Musée Mohammed VI, Rabat, Morocco
Frontières, Cité Miroir, Liège, Belgium
En Rebeldia, IVAM, Valence, Spain
2016
FESTIVAL FIFDH, Geneva, Switzerland
DAK’ART 2016, Dakar, Senegal
MARRAKECH BIENNIAL, Morocco
JACQUES CHIRAC OU LE DIALOGUE DES CULTURES, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France
GRASSI INVITES #2, Leipzig, Germany
PHOTOMED 2016, Sanary-sur-Mer, France
RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES DE LA PHOTO, Fez, Morocco
PARIS PHOTO, Grand Palais, Paris, France
ESSENTIEL PAYSAGE, MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco
2015
BRANDTS MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ART, Odense, Denmark
GHAYA GALLERY, Tunisia
LUXEMBOURG ART WEEK, Wild Project Gallery, Luxembourg
MUNTREF CENTRO DE ARTE CONTEMPORANEO, Buenos Aires, Argentina
GALLERY IFA, Stuttgart / Berlin, Germany
ANKARIA FOUNDATION, Reales Alcazares, Seville, Spain
EXPO MILANO 2015, Italy
PHOTOMED FESTIVAL 2015, Hôtel des Arts de Toulon, France
1-54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART FAIR, Voice Gallery, New York, USA
THE MARRAKECH MUSEUM FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AND VISUAL ARTS, Morocco
PHOTOMED LIBAN 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
2014
Le Maroc Contemporain, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL, New York, USA
PHOTOMED FESTIVAL 2014, Sanary-sur-Mer, France
SALON DE TANGER DES LIVRES ET DES ARTS, Tangier, Morocco
MARRAKECH BIENNIAL, Morocco
2013
STATION, The Danish Refugee Council & European Commission, Beirut
ART FACTUM GALLERY, Beirut
RIAD EL FENN, Marrakech
2012
AMSTERDAM PHOTOGRAPHY BIENNIAL (GRID), The Netherlands
THE EMPTY QUARTER GALLERY, Women on the Verge, Dubai
ESPACE D’ART CDG RABAT, Carte blanche à Mahi Bine Bine, Morocco
THE EMPTY QUARTER GALLERY, Women on the Verge, Dubai
MARRAKECH BIENNIAL, Morocco
2011
MARRAKECH ART FAIR, Images Affranchies, Morocco
COLLECTIVO LA LATINA, Madrid, Spain
ROYAL MANSOUR MARRAKECH, L’Atelier 21, Morocco
2015
CAIRO VIDEO FESTIVAL, Egypte
VIDEO FOREVER, Paris, France
LES NUITS PHOTOGRAPHIQUES, Paris, France
2014
LES INSTANTS VIDEO, Marseille, France
VIDEO ART & EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL, Tribeca, New York
AIVA INTERNATIONAL VIDEO ART FESTIVAL, Sweden
"NOW & AFTER" Video Art Festival / Honorary Jury Mention, Moscow, Russia