HASSAN HAJJAJ : MOVING STEREOTYPES

By Nii B. Andrews

Hassan Hajjaj, a British-Moroccan photographer, started out in the late 80s by running a street fashion shop in London. Since then he has fine tuned his expertise and is now a master of combining the traditional with the cutting edge.

His current exhibition, La Caravane, is his first London exhibition in seven years. It brings together concepts from his fashion industry past and his Moroccan heritage.

The result is a breaking of stereotypes; a radical departure from the conventional (?lazy) perspectives for interpreting identity.

Hajajj’s work in the exhibition includes the Kesh Angels series and My Rock Stars.

Kesh Angels shows female bikers in Marrakesh – an aspect of Moroccan culture that seems to be at variance with Western and other preconceptions.

In My Rock Stars, Hajjaj focuses on his travels by combining material from Brick Lane, or Barbès in Paris, or Venice Beach in LA, with international brand names and labels.

Hajjaj serves up an unforgettable cosmopolitan mix of colours, patterns, objects and symbols.

The exhibition is currently at Somerset House, London, from October 5-8 as part of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

Marrakech- the ancient African city, is the venue for the next 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair; the date – February 2018.

The Ochre City, always the perfect host, never fails to disappoint visitors with her charms and hospitality.

 

4 thoughts on “HASSAN HAJJAJ : MOVING STEREOTYPES”

  1. Nice article.

    Love the kesh angels bright and vibrant colors and yes l agree that “conventional” in most cases means lazy!

    Have a great weekend.

  2. I love his footwear.

    As a matter of interest, apart from Anatsui, and maybe New Owoo, how many Ghanaians get to exhibit in London, Paris and cities of US and Canada?

    1. Greetings UC

      Thanks for your interest and support.

      Yes indeed, the footwear is wicked; his whole outfit is not for the faint hearted.

      It demonstrates a thorough understanding of the color wheel…….dare I say it……in the best African tradition 😄

      Numerous Ghanaian artists have had exhibitions in venues that you mentioned; Glover, Hughes, Owusu-Ankomah, Delaquis, Sam Bentil, Wiz Kudowor, Setordji etc

      But of course we need more exposure abroad and perhaps even more so, at home.

      Have a great weekend.

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