Cultural Initiatives in North Africa
and the Middle East
Cultural Initiatives in North Africa
and the Middle East
Farid Belkahia (Marrakech, 1934-2014).
He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris from 1955 to 1959. He was then trained from 1959 to 1962 in the art of scenography at the Prague Theatre Institute. In 1965-66 he perfected his training at the Brera Academy in Milan. Back in Morocco, Farid Belkahia was director of the Casablanca School of Fine Arts from 1962 to 1974. After a period of expressionist painting, Farid Belkahia oriented his art towards more geometric patterns and diversified the supports of his painting. After a long period of copper from 1962 to 1974, he became interested in raw skin dyed with natural pigments, such as henna or pomegranate bark, among others. His works, dyed on skin, are essential in the history of painting in Morocco. They are the place of a conjunction between a traditional support and modern forms. "Any renewal, any modernity passes by the tradition", underlines the painter.