Moroccan artist’s fusion of heritage and herbalism provides soft return to earth
The exhibition "Tomorrow is Cancelled - Art and Views on Moderation" brings together 23 contemporary artists who confront humanity’s relationship to the environment using different mediums. Rita Alaoui’s video installation explores her Moroccan family heritage and pays tribute to the art of using medicinal plants.
Born in 1972 in Rabat, Morocco, multimedia artist Rita Alaoui has always been drawn to nature, where she finds endless inspiration for paintings, sculptures, collages and video works.
When approached by the EDF Group Foundation in Paris to participate in a collective exhibition with the theme of sobriety – or moderation – she chose to return to a project she’d already been working on for a while called the "Lawson Cataplasm Garden".
She had begun collecting information about her family heritage, in particular the use of Lawsonia inermis a medicinal plant, also known as henna, used by her Moroccan great-grandmother.
"It all began with a small anecdote from when I was a child," Alaoui told RFI.
"My great-grandmother would make a paste from henna and apply it to my arms which I kept scratching because I had eczema."
Usually associated with a form of temporary tattoo applied by women for weddings or other celebrations in North African cultures, Alaoui wanted to remind people of the ancient healing properties of the plant.
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