A Poem in Two Voices

Overpassing the « I, » meeting the « you » to build the « we » by creating a joint artistic work that recreates a link that goes beyond the existence of the often closed borders. Photographers Imane Djamil, M’hammed Kilito, and Seif Kousmate from KOZ, along with Abdo Shanan, Soufian Chemcham, and Cléa Rekhou from 220, formed an inter-collective union of three tandems who exchanged through field trips to the opposite sides of the borders to draw up a photographic map of the two countries through their reflections on the landscape, personal memories, and local communities.

The project relied on a simple premise: the Algerian photographers travelled to Morocco, and the Moroccans to Algeria, and they each developed a new project based on their encounter with a country they had been taught to be suspicious of.

Danaé Panchaud coordinated and accompanied the photographers through their research and reflections resulting in curating the produced work in an unusual exhibition: instead of showing each project separately and clearly labelled, the images were freely regrouped and formed new compositions and mosaics. Instead of highlighting the differences between the two countries, they make their similarities visible. Rather than giving us definite answers about the identity of each nation, they open up new spaces that go from one to the other with fluidity and ease. The exhibition was playful, surprising, and full of grace and wonder, all found in the mundane and every day of Algeria and Morocco. With images sometimes tilted sideways, with playful juxtapositions and unexpected figures, it attempts to recreate the feeling of travelling: when everything is familiar and different, remarkable and banal when our eyes are drawn to the small details and the largest of landscapes.

A Poem in Two Voices was the name chosen for the exhibition of the single series made by the six photographers and curated by Swiss curator Danaé Panchaud, which was exhibited simultaneously in Casablanca and Algiers.

« I believe that images, or, more precisely maybe, that image making, can be a very powerful tool. I believe in the capacity of images to make self-expression and representation possible in an accessible way and that they can be harnessed to reclaim and reframe one’s history. On the other hand, photography has been used to enforce power structures and impose certain narratives. Its power can indeed be wielded both ways. Since my first encounters with the photography scene of North Africa, I have been impressed by its vibrancy and dynamism, but also by its efficacy and the ability of its photographers to express their points of view in powerful and unique visual languages. » said Panchaud.

The project was in the frame of “2021 On the road again” open call encouraging joint projects between two partners from the Arab countries along with Swiss partner.