Art Galleries Near Your Marrakesh Villa (II)

The city of Marrakech is well known for the quality and abundance of its crafts and its artistic creation, as well as the promotion and diffusion of the intercultural dialogue through art. There are numerous and prestigious art galleries that have an international recognition in Marrakech, some of which offer bold and innovative aesthetic projects that bring together plastic artists from all over the world in their desire to capture the magic and the charm of this fascinating and unique city.

Here is a second small list of some of the most interesting art galleries in Marrakech:

1. Ministero Del Gusto

22, Derb Azzouz, El Mouassine, Medina

“Ministerio del Gusto” is a gallery inaugurated in 1988 and located in a beautiful riad in the medina of Marrakech that preserves its original structure. However, this riad has been uniquely decorated and sculpted with all kinds of pieces of furniture, jewellery, fashion and avant-garde objects executed in the style of Mali and created by several artists.

Managed by Alessandra Lippini, former editor of the prestigious magazine Vogue, and by furniture designer Fabrizio Bizzarri, “Ministerio del Gusto” also offers an interior design studio. The works exhibited in the gallery, including furniture, art and crafts, are all absolutely unique and have been designed and made by artists and creators from around the world.

The collection at “Ministerio del Gusto” is eclectic and original and all works have a common element of singularity and rarity, as well as the power of creating an atmosphere of distinctive African nuances that display the colours and ambiances of the desert and the artistic and technical talents of their creators. “Ministerio del Gusto” also organises occasional exhibits, besides the display of the works of the house favourite artists, and include photographs, paintings, pop-art works, multimedia, etc.

2. Galerie 127

127 Avenue Mohamed V, Gueliz

Nathalie Locatelli

The “Galerie 127” is the first gallery exclusively devoted to exhibiting contemporary photographic works in the Maghreb and was inaugurated in 2006 with an exhibit by the famous Spanish photographer Toni Catany. Its aim is to make the main trends of photography known and to promote an artistic and aesthetic opening to the world and to the unique cosmopolitanism of a city like Marrakech. Besides the exhibits of works by internationally renowned photographers, “Galerie 127” intends to pay special attention to photographic works created by African artists in general and Maghribian in particular.

3. Lawrence-Arnott

Immeuble El Khalil, Avenue Hassan II, Gueliz

John Lawrence and Philippe Arnott, partners in their artistic adventure since 1975, are the managers of this gallery located in the French neighbourhood of Gueliz. Since its opening, the “Lawrence-Arnott” gallery in Marrakech has established itself as a fundamental reference of Moroccan art and has earned an excellent reputation in the Marrakchi artistic world for unconditionally promoting the country’s art and for developing the national art market. The impact of this gallery on the city’s cultural and artistic life has been considerable by promoting numerous works by new talents and by bringing the works of important international artists to Morocco.

4. Galerie Noir Sur Blanc

48 Rue Yougoslavie, Gueliz

The gallery “Noir Sur Blanc” (Black Over White), also located in the French neighbourhood of Gueliz, is a new space devoted to art and culture. The element that characterises this gallery is its will to establish itself as an open space allowing the contact and the dialogue between the general public and the artists of different disciplines. In this sense, the creations presented by “Noir Sur Blanc” are not limited to plastic arts but also include literature, photography and other forms of creation, as well as the organisation of workshops, meetings, theatre productions, conferences, readings, lectures, music recitals, individual and collective exhibits by local, national and international artists, performances, etc.

5. Light Gallery

2, Derb Chtouka, Quartier de la Kasba, Medina

Located in the Kasba, at the Herat of the medina of Marrakech, and open since 2006, the “Light Gallery” develops its desire of artistic promotion and multicultural exchange in a space both artistic and commercial. This gallery is inspired by the search of a harmony between artistic avant-garde and the timelessness of its surroundings, between the West and the Orient, in order to establish a tight bond and a multidirectional dialogue between local and national artists and those creations originated in other horizons. Besides the pictorial works, the gallery has a unique photographic archive with works by the most important photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a miscellany of art books, DVDs and all sorts of design and vintage objects and accessories.