Morocco's First National Pavilion at Venice Biennale Features Amina Agueznay's Textile Installation

Morocco makes its official debut at the Venice Biennale Arte with a national pavilion at the Arsenale, featuring artist Amina Agueznay (born 1963 in Casablanca). Curated by Meriem Berrada, artistic director of MACAAL in Marrakech since 2016, the site-specific project titled Asǝṭṭa—a term in Amazigh language meaning ritual weaving—fills 300 square meters with sewn panels. The installation explores the transmission of traditional craftsmanship and shared memory, aligning with the 61st International Art Exhibition's theme 'In Minor Keys'. Agueznay, trained as an architect, has worked for over two decades with local communities including spinners, embroiderers, basket weavers, goldsmiths, apprentices, and master artisans through workshops and residencies across Morocco. The pavilion investigates the concept of threshold (âatba) in Moroccan vernacular architecture, creating a scenography to be traversed between interior and exterior, private and public, sacred and profane. The project is organized by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, aiming to project Moroccan art onto the international stage while maintaining cultural specificities. Berrada describes the work as 'a living archaeology of gestures, transmitted, transformed, and exalted, continuing to generate new forms from ancestral heritage.'