Younes Baba-Ali produces an unconventional and critical work, which he likes to bring to the public space or to places uncommon to art practice. As a sharp observer, he aims to question society, institutions and above all, his spectators. As a free thinker he holds a mirror up to society and confronts it with its ingrained habits and dysfunctions. The artist’s work often assumes the form of a readymade, but underneath its facade of simplicity, there is a complex exercise in balance at work. Younes Baba-Ali measures and mixes technology, objects, sound, video and photography with political, social and ecological issues. The resulting installations discreetly coerce the unsuspecting viewer into taking a stand. The artist does not shy away from controversy and is often forced to negotiate with his environment in order to assert his artistic practice and his right to exist. His art is always context-specific and really takes shape in dialogue with the audience. This interventionist practise, at times disruptive, confronts the viewer with himself and his environment. Younes Baba-Ali presents people dilemmas and taboos to prompt a reaction, transforming the spectator into his accomplice.
[READING LIST]
To learn more about Younes Baba-Ali’s practice, here are a few articles, interviews and videos about his work:
And don’t forget to visit Younes Baba-Ali’s own video channel!
Kanal – Pompidou Center, Brussels (BE)
Mu.ZEE, Ostende (BE)
Middelheim, Antwerp (BE)
FRAC PACA, Marseille (FR)
M Leuven, Leuven (BE)
Dégrisement, Galerie Talmart, Paris (FR)
Connexion#1, Toison d’Or Gallery, Brussels (BE)
Dégrisements, La BF15, Lyon (FR)
Vu’Cumprà / Paraboles, BOZAR, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels (BE)
Monographies Art 10+5, cur. Solange Wonner, La Médiatine, Brussels (BE)
Tomorrow’s Morocco, cur. Valérie Boucher & Victor Hugo Riego, Musée d’Ixelles, Brussels (BE)
Brussels Background, cur. Hicham Khalidi, MAAC, Brussels (BE)
L’MAR9A, Voice Gallery, Marrakech (MA)
Transaction Complete, Fama Gallery, Verona (IT)
Land(e)scape, Gallery Aperto, Montpellier (FR)
Desencuentros, Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid (ES)
No Signal Found, cur. Bérénice Saliou, Gallery Arte Contemporanea, Brussels (BE)
Taverna Especial, cur. Victoria Brooks, Sketch Gallery, London (GB)
Diférence / Różnica, Wro Art Center, Wroclaw (PL)
Doka, cur. by Geert Goiris, Museum M Leuven, Leuven (BE)
Shalom Aleikoum. Peace be with you, cur.by Benedicte Goesaert, Kordekor, Kortrijk (BE)
Survival Kit 14, Vidzeme Market, Riga (LV)
Sirens : l’autorité qui résonne, Émission radio sur Radio Panik, Brussels (BE)
Dérives en péninsules, L’Atlas, Paris (FR)
Bodies of Identities, cur. by Paul di Felice, Krystyna Dul, Kevin Mulhen and Stilbé Schroeder, Casino Luxembourg (LU)
FREETOWN, WECANDANCE and P&V Bomboclat, Zeedijk and Zeebrugge (BE)
Le pas suspendu, Irène Laub Gallery, Brussels (BE)
TIME IS GOING, 14th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dak’Art, Dakar (SN)
Operation Corruption & Dilution, Centre Wallonie- Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
The Constant Glitch, M Leuven, Brussels (BE)
Mirror, Mirror, …, V2Vingt, Brussels (BE)
BXL UNIVERSEL II : multipli.city, CENTRALE for contemporary art, Brussels (BE)
Signal _ Espace(s) réciproque(s), Centre Wallonie- Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
Resilience, an aptitude, Irène Laub Gallery, Brussels (BE)
Arrival/departure, LIberas, Ghent (BE)
SongEun Artspace, Seoul (KR)
Jerusalem, cur. Hans de Wolf, Cultuurtoren VUB, Brussels (BE)
Struer Tracks, cur. Christian Skovbjerg Jensen, Struer (DK)
Médiatine, cur. Catherine Husson, CWB, Paris (FR)
Kubatana, cur. Kristin Hjellegjerde, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen (NO)
L’instant T des heures mêlées, cur. Stéphanie Pecourt, CWB, Paris (FR)
For a Brave New Brussels, cur. Stéphanie Pecourt & Christophe De Jaeger, SongEun Artspace, Seoul (KR)
Material Insanity, cur. Janine Gaëlle Dieudji & Meriem Berrada, MACAAL, Marrakech (MA)
Future Genealogies – Tales From the Equatorial Line, 6th Biennale de Lubumbashi, cur. Sandrine Colard, Lumumbashi (CD)
Digital Imaginaries – Africas in Production, ZKM, Karlsruhe (DE)
For a brave new Brussels, cur. Stéphanie Pecourt & Christophe De Jaeger, MAAT, Lisbon (PT)
5th Anniversary Festival, Fridman Gallery, New-York (US)
Digital Imaginaries : Premonition, cur. Fiona Rankin-Smith & Tegan Bristow, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg (ZA)
One place after another, cur. Viktor Misiano, The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow (RU)
Interspaces, Künstlerhaus, Klagenfurt (DE)
Invisible, cur. Alya Sebti, IFAN Museum, in the framework of the 13th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar (SN)
The Sonic Cosmologies of Halim El-Dabh, cur. Bonaventure Ndikung, Kamila Metwaly & Marie-Helene Pereira, IFAN Museum, in the framework of the 13th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar (SN)
Dak’Art, 13th Contemporary African Art Biennial, Dakar (SN)
Exil et Mémoire, 1st Biennale of Architecture and City, cur. Mounir Fatmi, Agora Rabat Salé, Rabat (MA)
La cloche des fourmies, cur. Agit’Art, in the framework of the 13th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar (SN)
The Exile Pavillon, cur. Mounir Fatmi & Marie Deparis-Yafil, French Institute of Saint Louis, in the framework of the 13th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Saint Louis (SN)
Commissions, cur. Bernard Blistène & Yves Goldstein, KANAL – Centre Pompidou, Brussels (BE)
Second Life, cur. Janine Gaëlle Dieudji, MACAAL, Marrakech (MA)
Garab Yiy Jooy, Partcours, Ker thiossane, Dakar (SN)
Gemischte Gefühle, cur. Hans De Wolf, Tempelhof, Berlin (DE)
Stealing from the West, cur. Ekaterina Degot, Academy of Arts of the World, Cologne (DE)
Extra Citizen, cur. Antonia Alampi & Iliana Fokianaki, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp (BE)
BXl Icons / Pour que tout rentre dans le désordre, cur. Stéphanie Pécourt, Halles Saint-Géry, Brussels (BE)
The Absent Museum, cur. Dirk Snauwaert, WIELS Art Center, Brussels (BE)
Sonic Panoramas, cur. Anna Raimondo & Younes Baba-Ali, IFA Gallery, Berlin (DE)
Génération Flash, cur. Younes Baba-Ali & Meriem Berrada, Fondation Alliances, Casablanca (MA)
E-mois, cur. Othman Lazraq & Meriem Berrada, Museum of African Contemporary Art, Marrakech (MA)
Fluid Journey, cur. Silvia Litardi, Fondazione Pasticio Cerere, Roma (IT)
EUtopia 28, cur. Lieze Eneman & Luk Lambrecht, Museumcultur, Strombeek/Gent (BE)
Oh les beaux jours, 9th Louvain-la-Neuve, Public space, Louvain-la-Neuve (BE)
Imagined Homes, 6th Thessaloniki Biennale, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (GR)
In Situ, Göteborg International Biennial, Boras Art Museum, Boras (SE)
Every Time A Ear di Soun, the Documenta 14 Radio Program, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin (DE)
Economie d’un bestiaire exalté, cur. Amina Zoubir & Pierre Andrieux, Galerie des Etables, Bordeaux (FR)
Coup de ville, cur. Stef Van Bellingen, Warp Art Center, Sint Niklaas (BE)
Indisciplines, cur. Devrim Bayar, Christophe Slagmuylder & Stephanie Pecourt, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (FR)
Intension, Masnaâ #4, cur. Ismaël & David Rufel, GVCC Gallery, Casablanca (MA)
Helldorado, sur les chemins de l’exil, cur. Gwendoline Cabé-Maury, L’Orangerie, Bastogne (BE)
Merchants of dreams, cur. Christian Skovbjerg Jensen, Brandts13 & Viborg Kunsthal (DK)
Observations sonores, cur. Bertrand Riou, Musée Gassendi, Digne-les-bains (FR)
Marseille Résonance, cur. Samar Khedy, MuCEM, Marseille (FR)
MAAC Panorama : 10 ans de Bourses COCOF, cur. Nancy Suarez, MAAC, Brussels (BE)
Fragil, cur. Véronique Depiesse & Tristan Locus for Zinneke, GB58, Brussels (BE)
All Of Us Have A Sense Of Rhythm, cur. Christine Eyene, David Roberts Art Foundation, London (UK)
Ikob Award, group exhibition, The ikob – Museum of Contemporary Art, Eupen (BE)
I stay, I remain, cur. Christoph von Löw & Andreas Greulich, Vkunst, Frankfurt (DE)
Traces of the Future, MMP+ Marrakech Museum for Photography and VIsual Arts, Marrakech (MA)
Casablanca énergie noire, Mons 2015, cur. Alya Sebti, Maison Folie, Mons (BE)
Une autre histoire, cur. La source du lion, Citerne Portugaise, El Jadida (MA)
Laboratory of hearing, cur. Barbara Vanderlinden, University of the Arts, Helsinki (FI)
You must change your life, Artefact Festival, cur. Hicham Khalidi, Stuk, Leuven (BE)
The Luxury of Dirt, cur. Rocco Orlacchio, Voice Gallery, Marrakech (MA)
Between us, cur. Sabrina Amrani, Etopia, Zaragoza (SP)
YICCA, Lugano Innovation Lab, Lugano (CH)
Celeste Prize, Assab One, Milan (IT)
Art’Contest, cur. Valérie Boucher, Centrale for Contemporary Art, Brussels (BE)
1914- 2014 cent ans de création, cur. Mohamed Rachdi, Museum Mohammed VI, Rabat (MA)
Digital Africa : The Future is Now, cur. Christine Eyene, Southbank Centre, London (UK)
Marseille Résonance, cur. Samar Khedy, MuCEM, Marseille (FR)
Strange Paradoxe, cur. Florence Renault-Darsi, Hassan Darsi & Jean Roch, MuCEM, Marseille (FR)
Strange Paradoxe OFF, cur. Florence Renault-Darsi & Hassan Darsi, Masnaâ, Casablanca (MA)
If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?, cur. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung & Pauline Doutreluingne, L’ESAV, Marrakech (MA)
Nass Belgica, cur. Marie Papazoglou, Botanique, Brussels (BE)
Prix Médiatine, cur. Solange Wonner, La Médiatine, Brussels (BE)
Where are we now?, 5th Marrakech Biennial, cur. by Hicham Khalidi, Marrakech (MA)
Augmented Spatiality, cur. María Andueza, Konstapoteket, Stockholm (SE)
Big Bang, Gallery Arte Boccanera, Trento (IT)
Not a group show, Gallery Arte Contemporanea, Brussels (BE)
Carte Blanche, Ker Thiossane, Dakar (SN)
Traduction, tradition, trahison, cur. Anna Raimondo & Maria Iñigo Clavo, Le Cube, Rabat (MA)
Travail, mode d’emploi, cur. Charles-Olivier Gohy, Centrale for Contemporary Art, Brussels (BE)
Retour de Biennale, Galerie Château de Servières, Marseille (FR)
Disorder, cur. Marco Trulli & Claudio Zecchi, Fabrica del Vapore, Milan (IT)
WEYA, New Art Exchange, cur. Marco Trulli & Claudio Zecchi, Nottingham (UK)
PLPAC, French Institute Gallery, Rabat (MA)
Between Walls, cur. Yasmina Naji, Rabat (MA)
Arrivi e partenze, Mole Vanvitelliana, cur. Elletra Stamboulis, Ancona (IT)
A5x2, cur. Nancy Suarez & Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, MAAC, Brussels (BE)
Dak’Art, 10th Contemporary African Art Biennial, cur. Christine Eyene & Nadira Laggoune, Dakar (SN)
Higher Atlas, 4th Marrakech Biennial, cur. Carson Chan & Nadim Samman, Marrakech (MA)
6 Heures de Vidéos, cur. Sandrine Wymann & Valérie Perrin, Kunsthalle, Mulhouse (FR)
Von Tieren, Elektronen und anderen Lügen, cur. Katharina Dunst, Haus für elektronische Künste, Basel (CH)
Regionale 12, cur. Sophie Kaufenstein & Philippe Lepeut, Accélerateur de Particules, Strasbourg (FR)
A time to migrate, a time to nest, cur. Clément Stehlin, FabrikCulture, Hégenheim (FR)
Ile Flottante, cur. Valentina Barbagallo & Tiziano Perugini, Abadir, Catania, Farm Cultural Park, Favara (IT)
Surveillé(e)s, cur. Abdellah Karroum, La Halle, Pont-en-Royans (FR)
Studio Dispatches, cur. Victoria Brooks & Andrew Bonacina (The Island), Art Dubai, Dubai (AE)
Biennial of Young Artists of Europe and Mediterranean, 15th edition, Thessaloniki (GR)
Flowers, Animals, Urbans, Machines, cur. Abdellah Karroum, Appartement 22, Rabat (MA)
Nature et Paysage, cur. Mohamed Rachdi, Art Space of Société Générale, Casablanca (MA)
R22-Bruxel o’Ndra, cur. Abdellah Karroum, Bozar Museum, Brussels (BE)
De-ci de-là/Media, organized by the Ceaac & Frac Alsace, ESAD, Strasbourg (FR)
Desastres Cotidianos, Espacio Menos Uno, Madrid (SP)
Interference, organized by Stichting Ideefixe & In-Sonora, Electron Building, Breda (NL)
A Proposal For Articulating Works and Places, 3rd Marrakech Biennial, curated by Abdellah Karoum, Marrakech (MA)
Biennial of Young Artists of Europe and Mediterranean, 14th edition, Skopje (MK)
Wro 09, 13th Biennial of new media art, gallery BWA Awangarda, Wroclaw (PL)
3 days exhibition concept, cur. Franck Bragigand, CEAAC, Strasbourg (FR)
VideoBox Festival, Carreau du Temple, Paris (FR)
Programa09, Tabakalera, Donostia-San Sebastián (SP)
Eurovideo, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (DE)
Eurovideo, Théâtre de Liège, Liège (BE)
Forms of Togetherness, cur. Elena Sorokina, WIELS, Brussels (BE)
1:54 Film Screenings, Somerset House, London (UK)
Moussem in Hetbos, Hetbos, Antwerp (BE)
Videonomad, cur. Alina d’Alva and Tobi Ayedadjou, Raw Material Company, Dak’Art Biennial, Dakar (SN)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, TBC, Marrakech (MA)
Videonomad, cur. Alina d’Alva and Tobi Ayedadjou, Art Studio Souterrain, La Marsa (TN)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Kunsthalle, Sao Paulo (BR)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Motorenhalle, Dresden (DE)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Malmo Konsthall, Malmo (SE)
Focus Hors Pistes, invited by Simohammed Fettaka, Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Centro Arte Contemporanea Ticino, Bellinzona (CH)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow (RU)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Pori Art Museum, Pori (FI)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California (US)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Lu.C.C.A, Lucca (IT)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, Los Angeles (US)
SFIP, cur. Kisito Assangni, AIVA, Angelholm (SE)
Proyector, cur. Mario Gutiérrez Cru, Visual Container, Milan (IT)
Festival Iinternational d’Art Vidéo de Casablanca, 17th edition, cur. IRISSON, Casablanca (MA)
FIAV, 9th edition, cur. Fatima Mazmouz, Zoo Center, Catania (IT)
The Others Art Fair, Turin (IT)
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York (US)
Art Brussels, Brussels (BE)
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London (UK)
Artissima, Turin (IT)
Art Brussels, Brussels (BE)
Art 13 London, London (UK)
Flash Art Event, Milan (IT)
Just Mad, Madrid (SP)
Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech (MA)
Kunstart 10, Bolzano (IT)
Eurovideo, 1st Prize, Liège (BE)
Art’Contest, 1st Prize Boghossian, Brussels (BE)
Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Prix Médiatine, Brussels (BE)
Léopold Sédar Senghor, 1st Prize of Dak’Art, 10th Biennial of contemporary African Art, Dakar (SN)
The Glocal Rookie of the Year, 2nd Prize, Kunstart 10, Bolzano (IT)
Selebe Yoon, Dakar, (SN)
Without Negociation / Daily Wrestling, Research and production residency in the framework of the Biennale of Dakar (SN)
Digital Imaginaries, Research residency, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, (AF)
Moussem, Nomadic Arts Center, Brussels (BE)
MAAC, Maison d’Art Actuel des Chartreux, Brussels (BE)
Le Maroc et ses cultures, L’ESAV, Marrakech (MA)
Le Maroc et ses cultures, Le Cube, Rabat (MA)
Strange Paradoxe, La source du lion, Casablanca (MA)
Pas de deux, Villa Romana, Florence (IT)
Vives voix, Dakar (SN)
Wro Art Center, New Media Art Center, Wroclaw (PL)
Potsdam Fabrik, for the solo dance project “Mimesis” of Simona Ferrar, Potsdam (DE)
La Casa Encendida, for the solo dance project “Mimesis” of Simona Ferrar, Madrid (SP)
