New York–based Moroccan artist Meriem Bennani will present her first solo exhibition in her native Morocco with Life on the CAPS Trilogy, on view in the coastal city of Essaouira from 14 December 2025 to 8 February 2026. The exhibition marks a major homecoming for the Rabat-born artist, whose work has achieved international recognition but has not previously been shown in a solo context in Morocco .
The exhibition features Bennani’s acclaimed science-fiction film trilogy, which explores themes of displacement, surveillance, and resilience through her distinctive blend of humour, satire, and sharp social commentary. The three-part work—Party on the CAPS (2018–19), Guided Tour of a Spill (CAPS Interlude) (2021), and Life on the CAPS (2022)—forms an immersive narrative that reflects on contemporary migration, borders, and systems of control .
Set on a fictional floating island known as CAPS—short for “capsule”—the films imagine a future in which migrants caught teleporting illegally are intercepted and confined to the island. Over time, those detained form new hybrid cultures, social rituals, and inventive modes of resistance in response to the militarised forces that patrol the territory. What begins as a site of restriction gradually transforms into a space of collective survival and cultural reinvention .
Visually, Bennani’s work defies conventional genre boundaries. Blending live-action footage and computer-generated animation—some of which was shot in Essaouira—the artist draws playfully on the aesthetics of reality television, advertising, music videos, documentaries, and phone-camera imagery. This layered visual language lends the films an immediacy and accessibility that makes their political concerns both engaging and disarming .
Across the trilogy, Bennani moves fluidly between intimate personal narratives and expansive structural critiques. Individual stories of longing, adaptation, and community formation unfold alongside reflections on mass surveillance, digital governance, and diasporic identity, underscoring the tension between lived experience and global systems of control .
Presenting Life on the CAPS Trilogy in Morocco carries deep personal resonance for the artist. “Sharing my work in my home, in the country that it was made after and for, will feel like I’m showing for the first time,” Bennani has said, describing the exhibition as both an emotional and symbolic return .
The exhibition is presented by NG, a newly established art advisory and exhibitions company founded in 2025 by Nicolas Nahab and Samy Ghiyati. Both founders previously held senior leadership roles at major international galleries, including David Zwirner and Mendes Wood DM Paris. Ghiyati, who is North African and Moroccan, has described the project as deeply rooted in questions of place, origin, and community engagement .
NG’s programme places particular emphasis on producing context-driven exhibitions outside traditional art world centres. The choice of Essaouira—a historic port city shaped by centuries of migration, trade, and cultural exchange—aligns closely with both Bennani’s practice and NG’s curatorial ethos, positioning the exhibition within a broader social and geographic conversation .
Life on the CAPS Trilogy has previously been presented at leading international institutions including the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Nottingham Contemporary, The Power Plant in Toronto, Fondation Kamel Lazaar in Tunis, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. The work is held in major public and private collections such as MoMA, the Guggenheim, Qatar Museums, and the Hartwig Art Foundation, underscoring Bennani’s global impact .
Born in Rabat in 1988 and now living and working in New York, Bennani has developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning film, sculpture, and immersive installation. Her work consistently interrogates contemporary society, fragmented identities, and the pervasive influence of digital technologies through speculative narratives that blur the boundaries between fiction, documentary, and pop culture .
As NG’s inaugural exhibition, Life on the CAPS Trilogy signals the organisation’s ambition to create artist-led, locally engaged exhibitions that privilege depth, experimentation, and long-term impact over commercial spectacle. For Bennani, the show represents both a personal milestone and a reconnection with the cultural landscape that continues to shape her work .
Running from 14 December 2025 to 8 February 2026, Meriem Bennani’s first solo exhibition in Morocco stands as a landmark moment—bringing a globally recognised practice home while opening new conversations around migration, imagination, and resistance from the Atlantic edge of North Africa .
