C2ART GALLERYART GALLERYART GALLERYART GALLERYART GALLERYHISTORIC PARK40 Royal Air MarocTOP FIVE ART GALLERIES
While the tourist market still trades in harem girls, men with muskets and other Orientalist clichés, these Guéliz galleries offer
fresh takes and original talent you won’t find elsewhere.Galerie Rê
Offline map^ Google map^ ( ^ 0524 43 22 58; www.galeriere.com; Résidence Al Andalous III, cnr Rues de la Mosquée & Ibn
Toumert; 10am-1pm & 3-8pm Mon-Sat) A showcase for next-generation Moroccan art stars: Khadija Kabbaj’s mummified
Barbies, Hicham Benohoud’s pop portraits of heroes with faces erased, M’barek Bouhchichi’s dynamic colour-blocks that
resemble exploding Rothkos. Don’t miss gallery opening soirées – always packed, always fabulous.Galerie Noir sur Blanc
Offline map Google map ( 0524 42 24 16; 1st fl, 48 Rue Yougoslavie; 3-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm & 3-7pm Sat)
Major Moroccan talent covers the walls and spills onto the courtyard patio, from Hassan’s Bourkia’s smouldering abstracts in
chalk and ash to Hassan Echair’s delicately wrought iron installations.Matisse Art Gallery
Offline map Google map ( 0524 44 83 26; www.matisseartgallery.com; 43 Passage Ghandouri; 9.30am-noon & 3-
7.30pm Mon-Sat) This polished black-marble storefront off Rue Yougoslavie, showcases ethereal figures in beeswax by
Morocco’s Venice Biennale representative, Marrakesh native Mahi Binebine, and abstract henna paintings evoking Berber
baraka (blessings) by Farid Belkahia.David Bloch Gallery
Offline map Google map ( 0524 45 75 95; 8 bis Rue des Vieux Marrakchis; www.davidblochgallery.com; 10.30am-
1.30pm & 3.30-7.30pm Tue-Sat, 3.30-7.30pm Mon) Artists from both sides of the Mediterranean strike fine lines between
traditional calligraphy and urban graffiti, from Marrakshi Larbi Cherkaoui’s abstract calligraphic flourishes on goatskin to
Parisian graffiti artist Tanc’s 1980s wild-style, Zen circle paintings.Gallery 127
Offline map Google map ( 0524 43 26 67; 2nd fl, 127 Blvd Mohammed V; www.galerienathalielocatelli.com; 11am-
7pm Tue-Sat) A scuffed entry, dimly lit stairway, and exposed brick walls set the scene for new and vintage works by
international photographers at reasonable prices. Morocco’s first photography showcase cultivates emerging collectors –
including King Mohammed VI, who’s bought dozens of works here.Jardin Majorelle
Offline map Google map ( 0524 30 18 52; www.jardinmajorelle.com; cnr Aves Yacoub
el-Mansour & Moulay Abdullah; garden Dh30, museum Dh15; 8am-6pm summer, 8am-
5.30pm winter; ) Other guests bring flowers, but Yves Saint Laurent gifted the entire Jardin
Majorelle to Marrakesh, the city that adopted him in 1964 after a sequence of events that
included, in rather unfortunate order: launching hippie fashion; fame as a ground-breaking gay
icon; and an obligatory stint in the French military. Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé
bought the electric-blue villa and its garden to preserve the vision of its original owner,