Photo: Carlos Perez Marin
Malhoun is a constantly evolving Social-Institutional Artwork or Medium
Artwork by Eric Van Hove. It was
initiated by the artist’s studio (Fenduq.com) in late 2019 with the Malhoun 2.0 exhibition: following a six-month production period at Fenduq, 10 Moroccan artists &
10 Maâlems
were invited to exhibit alongside each-other without giving the public any clue as to who authored which artwork on show.
Resuming after the Covid Pandemic, from 2021 to 2025 Malhoun then evolved into an artist-run gallery and an informal art academy hosted in a 1950’s building at 175 Rue Mohammed el Beqal in Gheliz, Marrakech. Towards the end of this year, the building will be demolished and the Gheliz Stones it is build with will be transported off-site, where Malhoun will again transubstantiate.
Following Van Hove’s long pursuit of a Total Artwork (Gesamtkunstwerk), Malhoun aims to rethink the fundaments found between the artwork (as collectible/content) and the art institution (as enabler/container). A TAZ/ARI pluridisciplinary experimental venue expanding on the material and immaterial convergences that were already at play in V12 Laraki & his other large composite sculptures to date, conceptually Malhoun is perceived by the artist as a ‘systemic’ artistic medium in and by itself, that can be shared with other practitioners following a coevolutionary process. Just like Fenduq & the Mahjouba Initiative, with which it ultimately aims to coalesce, Malhoun emerges as a prolongation of Van Hove’s practice: a growing sociosystem that blurs pre-established boundaries and a safe haven for experimentation and playfulness in design, architecture, art, craftmanship and more. There isn’t any long term planning and the program remains very intuitive and highly adaptable.
Malhoun also hosted from 2021 to 2025 what the artist refers to as the Yussuf Bin Tashfin Academy: an informal post-graduate program aimed at the collective tutoring of young Moroccan artists. In the near absence of subsidies in the field locally, the Academy had 4 studios, 2 workshop/exhibition rooms, an outdoor cinema and a ground-floor gallery space. Mid-career creatives sitting on the Advisory Board or passing by for shows and productions are invited to network, nurture and coach these young artists as tutors.
Locally speaking, Malhoun is an artist hang-out functioning like a buffer, between the artists and the gallerists, between the art fair & the souk, between the diaspora and the locals, between creative fields somehow brought to cohabit in the building & themselves. Overall, as a platform centered on knowledge and know-how exchange, following the rhizomatic structure of collective memory and intelligence, Malhoun aims to serve as a catalyst for the meaningful growth of local cultural ecosystems.
Typically, it fosters a yearlong exhibition where affiliates showcase their productions and thoughts by way of a continuum: overlapping organically, items and propositions come and go following the conversations and intuitions of participants, as well as their practical needs. Exhibitions are usually tailed by ‘witnesses’ invited to follow the production process. Broadly speaking, exhibitions tend to be conjointly conceived with witnesses, and commercial in nature, though it can vary. Instead of openings, gatherings and ‘selat al rahim’ are organized from time to time, conveying the public to foster the bonds of kinship within the building.
The Malhoun Office
Samya Abid & Eric Van Hove
Resuming after the Covid Pandemic, from 2021 to 2025 Malhoun then evolved into an artist-run gallery and an informal art academy hosted in a 1950’s building at 175 Rue Mohammed el Beqal in Gheliz, Marrakech. Towards the end of this year, the building will be demolished and the Gheliz Stones it is build with will be transported off-site, where Malhoun will again transubstantiate.
Following Van Hove’s long pursuit of a Total Artwork (Gesamtkunstwerk), Malhoun aims to rethink the fundaments found between the artwork (as collectible/content) and the art institution (as enabler/container). A TAZ/ARI pluridisciplinary experimental venue expanding on the material and immaterial convergences that were already at play in V12 Laraki & his other large composite sculptures to date, conceptually Malhoun is perceived by the artist as a ‘systemic’ artistic medium in and by itself, that can be shared with other practitioners following a coevolutionary process. Just like Fenduq & the Mahjouba Initiative, with which it ultimately aims to coalesce, Malhoun emerges as a prolongation of Van Hove’s practice: a growing sociosystem that blurs pre-established boundaries and a safe haven for experimentation and playfulness in design, architecture, art, craftmanship and more. There isn’t any long term planning and the program remains very intuitive and highly adaptable.
Malhoun also hosted from 2021 to 2025 what the artist refers to as the Yussuf Bin Tashfin Academy: an informal post-graduate program aimed at the collective tutoring of young Moroccan artists. In the near absence of subsidies in the field locally, the Academy had 4 studios, 2 workshop/exhibition rooms, an outdoor cinema and a ground-floor gallery space. Mid-career creatives sitting on the Advisory Board or passing by for shows and productions are invited to network, nurture and coach these young artists as tutors.
Locally speaking, Malhoun is an artist hang-out functioning like a buffer, between the artists and the gallerists, between the art fair & the souk, between the diaspora and the locals, between creative fields somehow brought to cohabit in the building & themselves. Overall, as a platform centered on knowledge and know-how exchange, following the rhizomatic structure of collective memory and intelligence, Malhoun aims to serve as a catalyst for the meaningful growth of local cultural ecosystems.
Typically, it fosters a yearlong exhibition where affiliates showcase their productions and thoughts by way of a continuum: overlapping organically, items and propositions come and go following the conversations and intuitions of participants, as well as their practical needs. Exhibitions are usually tailed by ‘witnesses’ invited to follow the production process. Broadly speaking, exhibitions tend to be conjointly conceived with witnesses, and commercial in nature, though it can vary. Instead of openings, gatherings and ‘selat al rahim’ are organized from time to time, conveying the public to foster the bonds of kinship within the building.
The Malhoun Office
Samya Abid & Eric Van Hove
175
Rue Mohammed el Beqal, Marrakech, 40000
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