Morocco’s culture ministry has forced the removal of an artwork that they claim is blasphemous from the Tetouan Centre of Modern Art. The wall work by Khadija Tanana depicts a silhouette of the ‘Hand of Fatima’ – an open hand that is said to protect one against the evil eye, its name derived from the youngest daughter of Khadijah and the prophet Mohammed – formed from the collage of sexually explicit illustrations taken from Kama Sutra. The catalogue for the exhibition was also destroyed.
‘The group of sexual positions is not in line with religious and moral precepts’ a spokesperson for the government said. The artist defended the work explaining, ‘My work is on sexual perversion, which is becoming ever more common in Morocco society.’ Tanana also noted that the installation had been shown in Casablanca previously without incident.
The censorship occurs just as the first edition of the 1.54 Art Fair in Marrakech closed.
13 March 2018
