Alums Fryd Frydendahl GS'09 and Charlotte Haslund-Christensen PJ'97 participate in the public art project Billboard Festival Casablanca.
BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA, April 1st-15th, 2015
BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA occupies 63 full-size billboards in the very heart of Casablanca - a prime platform in the city seen by literally thousands and thousands of people passing on city trams and foot every day.
From April 1st-15th, 2015 the billboards will be full of photographic images by no less than 63 Moroccan and Nordic contemporary women artists – including works by selected students from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and École Superieure des Beaux Arts in Casablanca.
Billboards have a monumental and powerful visibility in public space. Blown up to 4x3 metres, the artists’ photographic works will bring new life and new images to the streets of Casablanca. As well as showcasing the talent and visions of women artists, BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA 2015 provides a more prominent, public site for very different stories and images than the advertising that dominates the streets of many cities worldwide.
BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA 2015 brings non-commercial imagery to the cityscape of billboards for the first time in the history Casablanca - raising awareness and encouraging public debates on gender issues, as well as bringing contemporary art to a wider audience of all genders and ages. BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA 2015 gives women the opportunity to express themselves on their own terms, and makes the city more open and creative city – for everyone.
BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA is the idea and concept of the Danish visual artist Hanne Lise Thomsen. In 2012 Thomsen curated the billboard-project WE ARE FROM HERE in Ramallah, and in 2003 the citywide billboard project WOMEN2003 (women2003.dk) in Copenhagen and Malmo.
Now it’s Casablanca’s turn, in a brand new Nordic-Arabic project that builds bridges between cultures and challenges our ideas about urban space, gender and identity through artistic interventions and new kinds of images by and of women.
Everyone involved in BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA 2015 is looking forward to exhibiting the art of women artists from Morocco and Scandinavia on the streets of Casablanca, hoping - to quote the closing line of the film Casablanca - that the festival marks “the beginning of a beautiful friendship”.
CONTACT: For further information, press images and interview contacts please contact: hindbensari@gmail.com
CONCEPT AND PRODUCTION: Hanne Lise Thomsen in collaboration with Professor Anette Abrahamsson, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and film director Hind Bensari.
WEBSITE: billboardcasablanca.org (under construction) - pinpointing the location of all the billboards in the city with links to each artist’s image and work.
EVENTS: Programme, with artist talks, video screenings, performances and panel debates will soon follow.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
From Scandinavia:
Anette Abrahamsson (SE), Jeanne Betak (DK), Katja Bjørn (DK) Yvette Brackman (DK) Christina Capetillo (DK), Sidse Carstens (DK), Charlotte Haslund-Christensen (DK), The Icelandic Love Corporation (IS), Hilda Ekeroth (SE), Maria Finn (SE), Fryd Frydendahl (DK); Gudrun Hasle (DK), Ane Henriksen (DK), Ditte Haarløv Johnsen (DK), Kirsten Justesen (DK), Lene Adler Petersen (DK), Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (DK), Jytte Rex (DK), Aurora Reinhard (FI), Beathe C.Rønning (NO), Christel Sverre (NO), Jeanette Sætre (NO) Hanne Lise Thomsen (DK), Charlotte Troldahl (DK).
From Marocco:
Rita Alaoui, Leila Alaoui, Zineb Andress Arraki, Myriem Baadi, Aïcha El Beloui, Carolle Benitah, Yasmina Benabderrahmane, Hind Bensari, Deborah Benzaquen, Siham Achari Berrada, Celine Croze, Safaa Erruas, Soukeina Hachem, Yasmine Hajji, Soukaïna Aziz El Idrissi, Maria Kabbaj, Zahrin Kahlo, Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti, Jamila Lamrani, Randa Maroufi, Safaa Mazirh, Fatima Mazmouz, Zara Samiry, Bouanani Touda, Fatiha Zemmouri
Students from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen:
Kinga Bartis (HU), Biba Fibiger (DK), Una Gunnarsdottir (IS), Nike Åkerberg (SE), Anne Kristin Kristiansen (D), Coline Marotta (F), Radmila Jovovic (SRB), Anna Sjöström (SV).
Students from École Superieure des Beaux Arts, Casablanca:
Amal Bachkata, Zainab Má, Khawla Lasfar, Kaghat Malak, Houda Quali Sabriv, Zineb EL Ouardi.
BILLBOARD FESTIVAL CASABLANCA is supported by:
Nordic Culture Fund, The Danish Arts Foundation, KVINFO and IKC (InterKulturelt Center).