Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa explores Moroccan traditional knowledge and engages dialogue with diverse artistic perspectives.
For its very first monographic exhibition dedicated to a contemporary artist, the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech has invited Joël Andrianomearisoa to occupy all of the museum's spaces in an exploration of Moroccan traditional knowledge. The artist engages dialogue with diverse artistic perspectives in an immersive scenography, punctuated by a selection of works from the Fondation Alliances collections. The works produced for Our Land Just Like A Dream were created exclusively in Marrakech, making use of a variety of local artisanal techniques in sustained dialogue with those who practice them. After an exploratory residency, Joël Andrianomearisoa undertook production of original works in close coordination with experienced artisans. The resulting works are personal interpretations of Morocco's artistic heritage as well as a tribute to hand craft. Sensitive to the materials that he encounters, the artist combines a variety of mediums with elegance and commitment. Wickerwork, metalwork, ceramics and embroidery collectively serve his poetic vision through textile installations, metallic sculptures or drawings on organic paper; all possibilities offered by the artist's host territory. This same quest for resonance led Joël Andrianomearisoa to engage in visual conversations with six artists, including Amina Agueznay (Morocco), Clotilde Courau (France), and Hindi Zahra (Morocco). As they explore goldsmithing, wood engraving, or sound, each of his accomplices—visual artist, actress, or musician—responds to the poetic perambulation of matter created by Joël Andrianomearisoa.
The authors of the catalogue (Salima Naji, Jean-Loup Pivin, Storm Janse van Rensburg...) address the poetic, technical and anthropological aspects of such a singular journey.
A polyphonic exhibition catalogue, this work is so thanks to all the energies and dialogues that the multidisciplinary artist Joël Andrianomearisoa was able to catalyse for his exhibition (with other artists, craftsmen, but also with voices and souls). On this occasion, with the collaboration of the curator Meriem Berrada, all the works were produced locally in Morocco, in shared circuits, with a permanent questioning of form, function and material… without forgetting what remains in our memory, our lunar and terrestrial reveries. The authors of the catalogue (Salima Naji, Jean-Loup Pivin, Storm Janse van Rensburg…) address the poetic, technical and anthropological aspects of such a singular journey. Developed between his native Antananarivo and Aubusson, via Udaipur, Joël Andrianomearisoa's "weavings" (of materials, forms and relationships) take on their full meaning, for a moment, in Marrakech.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, in 2022-2023.
Born in 1977 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Joël Andrianomearisoa is an artist living and working between Paris, Antananarivo and Magnat-l'Étrange. Andrianomearisoa's work encompasses different mediums and materials, seeking to give form to non-explicit, often abstract, narrations. His mixed-media approach—encompassing sculpture, installation, craft, textile, and through unprecedented collaborations—is informed by his Madagascan roots, itself a country of diverse cultural influences. Imbued with complex emotional experiences, his delicate, often ambiguous works are considered an ongoing series of ever-evolving exercises, which consider the aesthetic and architecture of feelings that all perceive, yet cannot put a name to.
In 2019, Andrianomearisoa represented Madagascar at the 58th Biennale di Venezia, and his work has been exhibited in leading global institutions including MAXXI, Rome (2018); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2010); the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC (2015); the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2005) and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2021). His work forms part of important international collections including the Smithsonian (Washington DC), The Studio Museum in Harlem (New York), the Collection Yavarhoussen (Antananarivo) and the Museum Sztuki (Łódź). In 2016, he received the Arco Madrid Audemars Piguet Prize.
