The Marrakech Art Fair is coming up fast (it's from the 9th to the 11th) but if you have time to take a quick break you could do worse than hop across to Africa to visit this fabulous city. As well as attending this extraordinary event you can take in the extraordinary palette of colours Morocco proffers the visitor – it's a fascinating, complex and exciting country to visit at anytime; it can only be further enriched by the up-coming art-festival.
The Fair is intended to be a platform for modern and contemporary art from East and West – and Morocco itself. Designed to encourage the collaboration and involvement of art dealers, gallery owners, artists, collectors and art lovers, it has persuaded a selection of prestigious international galleries to get involved: the Es Saadi Palace will be given over to 30 gallery stands to showcase modern art, contrasting styles from the Arab world with those from the West. The former includes participants such as Loft (Casablanca), the Isabelle Van Den Evnde gallery (Dubai) and Violon Bleu (Tunisia). From Europe, galleries from France, Italy, Belgium, the UK and elsewhere will present works by such internationally renowned artists as Karel Appel, Eduardo Chillida and Andy Warhol.
That's just part of it. There'll also be a thematic project on the history of art in the Palace ballroom; an artistic “face-to-face” between Mahjoud Ben Bella and François Morellet; in the Hivernage district; a display of Moroccan street art by 6 graffiti artists working in combination with Moroccan rapper Big, and many other events. For those who have not visited Morocco before, the 'first stop' might be a “circuit” tour. This has been arranged by Brahim Alaoui to display the artistic and cultural wealth of Marrakech.
It is not impossible to get over to Morocco at short notice, whether you go yourself or get the help of one of the many agencies that offer guided trips. You can get more details on Art Fair itself at: http://www.marrakechartfair.com/en/home
If you are reading this at the end of October, shame on you for picking up your Grapevine so late! But don't despair. The presence of the Fair is sure to have encouraged on-going art displays and sales, and is expected to encourage local galleries and museums to expand their collections and extend their exhibitions of modern art. And that's in addition to the existing and extraordinary culture of the city and the country itself.
