At the 61st Venice Biennale, the Kingdom of Morocco marks a pivotal moment in its cultural trajectory with the presentation of its first national pavilion at the Arsenale—one of the Biennale’s most historically resonant and architecturally charged sites. Titled Asǝṭṭa, the project is conceived by Amina Agueznay and curated by Meriem Berrada. More than a debut, the pavilion signals a deliberate and carefully articulated positioning of Moroccan contemporary art within the global arena—one that resists spectacle while asserting a deeply rooted, process-driven, and materially grounded practice. Commissioned by the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, the pavilion reflects a broader national commitment to amplifying contemporary artistic voices while remaining anchored in the country’s cultural and artisanal heritage.
Installed within the Artiglierie of the Arsenale, Asǝṭṭa unfolds as a monumental yet restrained installation that privileges duration, tactility, and embodied knowledge over visual immediacy. The title—derived from an Amazigh term referring to ritual weaving—signals the conceptual framework of the project: a sustained inquiry into how gestures, materials, and forms of knowledge are transmitted across generations. Rather than presenting discrete objects, the pavilion operates as an immersive environment, one that foregrounds the cumulative nature of making and the often-invisible systems that sustain craft traditions. In this sense, Asǝṭṭa functions less as an exhibition and more as a living structure of knowledge—an evolving field where memory is not archived but continuously enacted through material and gesture.
The pavilion’s conceptual grounding finds a natural alignment with In Minor Keys, the overarching curatorial framework envisioned by Koyo Kouoh. This edition’s focus on subtlety, nuance, and the “non-strident” aspects of human experience resonates profoundly with Agueznay’s approach. Rather than amplifying dominant narratives, Asǝṭṭa turns toward quieter forms of transmission—those embedded in repetition, labor, and collective memory. What emerges is a practice that operates in what Kouoh describes as “minor keys,” where meaning accumulates gradually, often through what is overlooked or undervalued within dominant systems of visibility.
At the core of the installation lies the concept of the threshold—âatba—a central element in Moroccan vernacular architecture. Traditionally understood as the liminal space between interior and exterior, between the private and the public, the sacred and the everyday, the threshold becomes both a spatial device and a philosophical proposition within the pavilion. Agueznay reimagines this concept as an inhabitable structure, inviting visitors to move through a sequence of transitions rather than fixed zones. The threshold, in this context, is no longer a boundary but an active condition—one that facilitates movement, negotiation, and transformation. It becomes a site where meanings are not imposed but encountered, shaped through proximity and experience.
Agueznay’s background in architecture is central to the spatial and structural intelligence of Asǝṭṭa. Having studied and practiced architecture in the United States for over a decade before returning to Morocco, she approaches installation-making as a process of constructing environments rather than objects. Her work consistently engages with scale, rhythm, and material responsiveness, creating spaces that are attuned to both their physical context and their cultural resonances. In the Arsenale, this approach manifests through a careful dialogue between the installation and the industrial architecture of the site, allowing the work to expand organically while maintaining a sense of cohesion and restraint.
For more than twenty years, Agueznay has developed a practice deeply rooted in Moroccan vernacular knowledge systems. Through extensive fieldwork, workshops, and collaborative projects across the Kingdom, she has worked closely with artisans—spinners, embroiderers, basket-makers, jewellers, and master craftspeople—whose skills form the foundation of Morocco’s material culture. These collaborations are not supplementary to her work; they are integral to its formation. Each gesture, whether a weave, braid, or stitch, carries within it a lineage of knowledge that extends beyond the individual, embedding the work within a broader continuum of cultural transmission.
Her previous projects—including Noise (2016), Curriculum Vitae (2021), and Fieldworks—have consistently explored the intersection of architecture, craft, and collective practice. These works function as both research and production, often emerging from participatory processes that blur the boundaries between artist, artisan, and community. In Asǝṭṭa, this methodology is expanded to an unprecedented scale, transforming the pavilion into a site where these relationships are not only visible but structurally embedded.
Curator Meriem Berrada plays a crucial role in articulating the intellectual and conceptual framework of the pavilion. Her practice, which focuses on the intersections between art and craft within African and Arab contexts, positions Asǝṭṭa as what she describes as a “living archaeology of gestures.” This framing resists the tendency to romanticize or fetishize craft, instead emphasizing its role as a form of knowledge production. In Berrada’s approach, craft is not a relic of the past but an active mode of thinking—one that operates through material engagement and collective memory.
The long-standing collaboration between Agueznay and Berrada adds another layer of depth to the pavilion. Since their first joint project, Noise, developed during a 2018 weaving workshop in Assilah, the two have cultivated a shared language grounded in material sensitivity and a commitment to vernacular practices. This continuity is evident in the cohesion of Asǝṭṭa, where artistic and curatorial visions converge seamlessly, producing a presentation that feels both conceptually rigorous and materially grounded.
Institutionally, the pavilion is led by the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication under the commission of Mohammed Benyaacoub. This initiative reflects a broader strategy to position Moroccan contemporary art within international contexts while maintaining a strong connection to local practices. As noted in the pavilion’s framework, the aim is to “weave together the threads of tradition and innovation,” creating a platform where Moroccan artists can engage with global audiences without losing the specificity of their cultural context.
Materially, Asǝṭṭa operates through an accumulation of fibers, threads, and woven structures that together form a dense yet permeable environment. Despite its scale, the installation maintains a sense of what might be described as “discreet monumentality”—a condition in which the work asserts presence without overwhelming the viewer. Each element retains its integrity, contributing to a larger system that reflects the interconnected nature of individual gestures within a collective framework.
Within the broader context of the Venice Biennale, Morocco’s pavilion distinguishes itself through its refusal to engage with dominant modes of exhibition-making that prioritize immediacy and visual impact. Instead, Asǝṭṭa operates through slowness, repetition, and sensory engagement, requiring a different mode of attention from its audience. Its impact is not instantaneous but accumulative, unfolding gradually as visitors move through the space and attune themselves to its rhythms.
This approach is particularly resonant in a contemporary moment characterized by acceleration, digital saturation, and the rapid consumption of images. By foregrounding processes that require time and care, the pavilion offers a counterpoint to these conditions, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship to both art and perception. It is an experience that demands patience, attentiveness, and openness—qualities that are increasingly rare within contemporary exhibition contexts.
Ultimately, Morocco’s debut pavilion is not simply a statement of national presence but a redefinition of how such presence can be articulated. Through Asǝṭṭa, Amina Agueznay and Meriem Berrada propose a vision of art as a space of transmission, where knowledge is not fixed but continually reshaped through practice, collaboration, and experience.
In Venice, where national pavilions often assert themselves through visibility and scale, Morocco’s contribution operates with quiet precision. It demonstrates that within the most subtle gestures—the movement of a hand, the repetition of a weave—lie profound possibilities for rethinking the relationship between art, heritage, and the future of contemporary practice.
