Meriem Bennani’s (b. 1988, Rabat) evolving practice encompasses sculpture, drawing, immersive film and amplified video installations informed by gender politics, censorship, the ubiquity of globalised technologies and a dystopian – or utopian – sense of existing between cultures and time. Her work is often rooted in the traditions and histories of her native Morocco and the wider African diaspora, gesturing postcolonial power dynamics. Engaging in an approach to digital animation she describes as ‘magic’ or a ‘hyperactivity of genre’, Bennani resists singularity by blending elements of documentary film, music and iPhone videos, reality television, cartoons and science fiction with humour and tender storytelling. Often created in collaboration with her family, Bennani’s films adopt a vernacular style; dramatic narratives are mediated through playful sound dynamics and a combination of digital tools, from collaged found footage to CGI animal proxies. Bennani’s world-building methods produce an idiosyncratic visual language that encourages nonlinear viewing and reflects the fragmented nature and internet-pace of contemporary living.
