2023-08-14 14:08:39
After the Institute of the Arab World, the Algerian painter Baya is the subject of a new exhibition at the Vieille Charité in Marseille until September 24. More than 150 paintings, drawings and ceramics are presented, many of which have never been seen before.
A pioneering woman of Algerian painting, Baya (1931-1996) was propelled at the age of 16 to the height of notoriety, dazzling writers, art lovers and artists including Picasso. The Center de la Vieille Charité de Marseille reconnects with the artist’s Mediterranean past with the exhibition Baya. An Algerian heroine of modern art until September 24.
Self-taught artist, Baya was an orphan and worked on agricultural farms with her grandmother in Kabylia when she was spotted at the age of 10 by Marguerite Caminat, an artist and art lover. She paints canvases in lush colors and makes pottery that enhances the richness of Algerian popular arts. Baya brings her marvelous imagination to life through her works. They dialogue with a heritage dear to his heart, Kabyle tales and crafts.
Baya, Small pool with two violins, 1966. Private collection (© Gabrielle Voinot)
Certain unpublished or long-thought-of extinct works are exhibited for the first time in Marseille. The Arab World Institute had already devoted a retrospective exhibition to Baya at the end of 2022.
Baya and Marseilles
The history of Baya is linked to that of Marseille. The Cantini museum was one of the first in the world to devote an international exhibition to her in 1982 in collaboration with Baya herself. This new retrospective is an opportunity to discover or rediscover previously unseen works that resonate with Marseille’s heritage. Between Mediterranean archaeological ceramics, Berber textiles, musical instruments, or photographs of Algerian landscapes and 20th century farms, the exhibition reconstructs the living environment in which Baya evolved.
The scenography of the exhibition, “Baya. An Algerian heroine of modern art” until September 24 at the Vieille Charité de Marseille (DR La Vieille Charité Marseille)
This Marseille stage completes the subject of past exhibitions thanks to pieces loaned by different institutions. There is the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, the Picasso-Paris national museum, the Philharmonie de Paris music museum, the Albert Kahn museum and the Mucem.
Several ceramics made by Baya and exhibited at the Maeght gallery in 1947 were found last winter and restored in order to be exhibited. A unique sound system accompanies the exhibition route, in order to reflect the musicality of Baya’s work. Birdsongs, sounds of instruments from the Arab-Andalusian orchestra, recitations of popular tales, each sound echoes the marvelous imagination of Baya, close to the Garden of Eden. An ideal world that celebrates Kabyle women as majestic queens, and where animals and plants coexist in perfect harmony.
Baya, Musical Instruments, 1974. Marseille, Cantini Museum, C.75.2.11 (© City of Marseille / RMN Grand Palais / David Giancatarina)
Baya outside the walls
Outside the walls of the Vieille Charité, the spirit of Baya still lives thanks in particular to the Saint-André and Salim Hatubou libraries which offer ceramics and calligraphy workshops, but also Arab-Andalusian music concerts and readings of Arab tales.
Throughout the duration of the exhibition Baya. An Algerian heroine of modern art, the Museums of Marseille also invite visitors to participate in the creation of a collaborative fresco in homage to Baya. Artists Pascale Lefebvre and Zeynep Perinçek guide the public through creative and participatory workshops, in line with Baya’s vision.
“Baya. An Algerian heroine of modern art” at the Center de la Vieille Charité in Marseille until September 24
Information and reservations for creative workshops outside the walls on 04 91 14 58 23 /musees.marseille.fr
#illustrious #painter #Baya #celebrated #Algerian #heroine #modern #art #Vieille #Charité #Marseille