Malika Agueznay
Born in 1938, Marrakech
Lives and works in Casablanca
Agueznay is a major figure in modern Moroccan art, recognized as one of the most important painters, engravers, and sculptors of her generation. Emerging in the late 1960s from the pioneering movement known as the Casablanca Art School, she worked alongside artists such as Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Melehi, and Mohamed Chabâa, while carving out a trajectory uniquely her own.
While her peers sought to redefine artistic language through an abstraction rooted in local forms and materials, she expanded this vision through a deeply personal dialogue with memory and feminine identity, which she astonishingly intertwines with the organic rhythms of nature.
The artistic explorations of this unconventional activist reflect the necessity of asserting her work within the male-dominated landscape of Moroccan abstract art. At that time, it was crucial to contribute to a more inclusive art historiography that highlights the women of the Maghreb, where non-figurative movements played a major role in shaping modern artistic thought.
Malika Agueznay, part of a generation raised under the French Protectorate, witnessed the profound cultural transformations brought about by decolonisation, which lends her work a powerful memorial dimension.
She thus belongs to a broader movement of Arab women abstract artists who favor delicate, ornamental forms and their cultural legacies, integrating them into their work while drawing inspiration from Western modes of expression, rather than adopting an overtly political aesthetic.
Her work can be found in global art collections, including the World Bank Collection (Washington DC, the Sharjah Museum (UAE), and the Musee des Abattoirs (Toulouse), amongst many others.