Programme “Territories, Resistance, Freedom”

Public Programme –Part of the exhibition: SECOND INTENTION:The Economy of Illusion

Morocco . 27 & 29.09 and 24.10.2025

Second Intention: The Economy of Illusion/ courtesy the artist

Second Intention: The Economy of Illusion/ courtesy the artist

Lecture Performance | 27 September, 6pm

The Sand You Carry in Your Pockets is a performative lecture by the Moroccan artist Ziad Naitaddi and the Portuguese art curator Inês Valle. Through storytelling, they interweave personal memories with imagined futures, navigating the emotional landscapes of lives lived between places. The talk explores expectations, challenges, dreams, and losses—tracing the delicate terrain of belonging and displacement. This participatory performance invites the audience into an open dialogue—to listen, question, and reflect. The experience is deepened by the sharing of food, offering a blend of flavours from Portugal, Morocco, and other places they have encountered along their journeys.

Lecture Performance | 29 September, 6pm

Where Figs Ripen and Sand Sifts is a performative lecture by Moroccan artist Ziad Naitaddi and Portuguese curator Inês Valle. Through storytelling, they interlace personal memories with imagined futures, navigating the emotional landscapes of lives lived between lands. The talk explores themes of expectation, challenge, dream, and loss—mapping the fragile terrain of belonging and displacement. It also offers a deeper look into Ziad Naitaddi’s artistic practice, including his solo exhibition Second Intention: The economy of illusion, drawing connections between his lived experiences and his creative process. This participatory performance invites the audience into their unfolding dialogue: to listen, question, and reflect.

Film Screening and Talk | 24 October, 7.30pm

Fouad Is Not A Criminal: HOME is a talk with Moroccan artist Ziad Naitaddi and Fouad Beniouri—informal film archivist, central figure, and narrator of Ziad’s photography project “Fouad Is Not a Criminal: HOME.” More than an underground film distributor, Fouad has been a crucial mentor to Ziad, granting access to international cinema, bridging gaps in cultural infrastructure, nd cultivating a vibrant parallel film culture. This discussion will delve into the transformative role of “informal art distribution” in preserving and transmitting a vital, universal cultural heritage. The evening will conclude with an exclusive screening of a film “La Vida Útil” by Federico Veiroj, specially selected from Fouad Beniouri’s personal archive, honoring his essential influence on the artist’s visual education and creative awakening.

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This exhibition is part of the 2023–2026 Cera Project’s program, Territories, Resistance, Freedom. This project is presented in partnership with LE 18 (Marrakesh) and Le Cube – Independent Art Room (Rabat) with the support of Être-ICI, Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística, ESAP - Escola Superior Artística do Porto, AL Mawred AL Thaqafy - Culture Resource and Nomad.

  • This programme is part of the exhibition

    Title: "SECOND INTENTION:The Economy of Illusion"
    Curator: Inês Valle
    Artists: Ziad Naitaddi

    Dates: 26/09 – 29/11/2025
    Venue: LE 18, Marrakech, Morocco
    Partners: LE 18, Marrakech, Le Cube– Independent Art Room . Support: Être-ICI, Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística, ESAP - Escola Superior Artística do Porto, AL Mawred AL Thaqafy - Culture Resource and Nomad.

  • Exhibition Opening:
    Date: Fri, 26 September
    Time: 6 PM
    Location: LE 18 – 18, Derb El Ferrane, Riad Laarous, 4000 Marrakech

    Lecture Performances:

    The Sand You Carry in Your Pockets
    Dates: 27 September, 6pm
    LE 18, Marrakesh

    Where Figs Ripen and Sand Sifts
    Dates: 29 September, 6pm
    Le CUBE, Rabat

    Film Screening & Talk:

    Fouad Is Not a Criminal: HOME
    Dates: 24 October, 7.30pm
    LE 18, Marrakesh

  • This screening of this film “La Vida Util” by Federico Veiroj is a proposal by the informal film archivist Fouad Beniouri.

    Film Title: La Vida Util (A Useful Life)(1h07) . Director: Federico Veiroj . Production: Cinekdoque

    Synopsis of the film: Set in Montevideo' s legendary Cinemateca Uruguaya, it is the story of the closure of a cinematheque with the same name due to financial difficulties, and how it affects its film-loving middle manager Jorge (played by film critic-turned-actor Jorge Jellinek[4]), who has worked there for 25 years. At first, he is overwhelmed by the prospect of having no profession or purpose, and drifts around in Montevideo. But eventually he realises that nothing can kill his love for film, so he ends the day by taking his love interest to the cinema. Although the story is fiction, Cinemateca Uruguaya, which celebrated 50 years in 2012, is besieged by financial problems, and its director, Manuel Martínez Carril, agreed to play himself in the film

  • Artist: Ziad Naitaddi (b. 1995, Rabat) is a Moroccan artist who lives and works in Rabat. His practice often extends beyond the act of photographing itself. He revisits archives, collects written and oral testimonies, and even re-engages with his own photographs years after their development. He refers to this approach as “photographic exhumation”—a process that allows him to explore narrative possibilities beyond the camera. His work has been presented internationally at institutions including The Center of Contemporary Photographic Art – Villa Perochon (France), 13th Dakar Biennale (Senegal), Dapper Foundation (France/Senegal), Le Cube – independent art room (Morocco), Sharjah Art Foundation (UAE), Galerie 127 (Morocco/France), 32nd Encontros Da Imagem (Portugal), Museo Nazionale MAXXI (Italy), Fotogalerie Wien - WUK (Austria), Batalha Centro de Cinema and Escola Superior Artística do Porto (Portugal), among others.

    Special guest: Fouad Beniouri (b. 1975, Rabat) left college during his first year and soon found his calling elsewhere. At the turn of the millennium—when DVD and VCD formats were just emerging in Morocco—he began selling classic music and films from the 1940s to the 1970s. During this time, his small shop became a haven for expatriates seeking rare and often independent films, with Fouad’s help proving invaluable in tracking them down. As his collection expanded, he developed a deep appreciation for arthouse cinema. Over time, his humble store evolved into an unexpected cultural hub, attracting members of Morocco’s intellectual and artistic community.

    Curator: Inês Valle works as an art curator and is the founder of The Cera Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting contemporary art outside Eurocentric and Western narratives. She co-founded DUSK, an international contemporary art festival in Iberian Peninsula’s ancestral stone sites. Until 2023, she served as the artistic director of insofar, a gallery committed to challenging stereotypes and redefining the relationship between artist, artwork, and audience to address the complexity and aesthetics of diversity. Her curatorial vision earned the gallery’s exhibition programme the recognition by the SNP as one of the “Best Exhibitions of 2023 in Portugal.”

    As an independent curator, she has collaborated with various organisations, including the Centro Cultural de Belém, Portugal; Museu de Arte Contemporânea - Coleção Berardo, Portugal; Canberra Contemporary Art, Australia; the National Museum of Lagos, Nigeria; and Artspace Aotearoa, New Zealand. Inês Valle holds a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon.

    Selected exhibitions include The Fire of Ideas at Museu Coleção Berardo; the retrospective And the Trash Goes by António Ole; the group show Red Tape featuring Ai Weiwei, Khaled Jarrar, and Miguel Palma; and Pneumacity Lagos, a public space exhibition with work by Andrew Esiebo in Nigeria, among others. She currently works at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation / CAM–Modern Art Centre.

  • LE 18 Link

    Le Cube – Independent Art Room Link