Meryem Sebti
Director of Publishing and Editorial Operations
Meryem Sebti has been the editor-in-chief of the contemporary art magazine DIPTYK (print and digital) since its founding in 2009. Born in Casablanca in 1971, she was awarded the Wissam Al Moukafaâ Al Wathania (Officer’s Class) by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in October 2014. Before founding DIPTYK, she held several positions in the national press, notably at La Vie Eco and the Journal Hebdomadaire, where she was part of the founding team in 1997–98. A graduate of the University of Paris X Nanterre with a degree in Modern Literature and Art History, she defended her master’s thesis in Classical Literature there, titled “Tacitus and the Barbarian Frontier ” (1993), building on research conducted during archaeological excavations at Dchar Jdid.
Fadwa Elahrache
Administrative and Financial Manager
With a degree in finance, Fadwa El Ahrache joined Diptyk in 2021. She oversees financial matters while helping to develop strategic partnerships with institutions, brands, and key players in the arts community, both in Morocco and internationally.
Emmanuelle Outtier
Digital Content Manager
Emmanuelle Outtier studied literature and history before turning to cultural journalism. She has worked with the Franco-German channel Arte and the daily newspaper *La Croix*, among others, before moving to Morocco in 2015, where she joined *Diptyk* magazine. An expert on the art scenes in Morocco, Africa, and the Arab world, she covers contemporary art news, major exhibitions, and shifts in the cultural landscape. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the digital edition of diptykmag.com.
Fatine El Kharrim
Graphic Designer and Community Manager
Fatine Elkharrim is a graphic designer and community manager. A graduate of the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels in Marrakech, she works on projects in editorial design, visual communication, and digital publishing, with a particular interest in contemporary art and cultural practices.
Chama Tahiri Ivorra is an artistic director and freelance cultural journalist. Since 2012, she has been producing concerts, promoting artists, creating content, and supporting projects to tell a different story of emerging Arab and African creativity. In 2021, she opened NIYA, a vegan restaurant and cultural café in Casablanca. In her free time, Chama is involved in the education sector, gives lectures on the cultural industries, and advocates both on the ground and on social media. Social justice, feminism, and animal rights are among the causes closest to her heart.
Farah Sayem is a curator, researcher, and cultural practitioner based in Tunis. She explores the physical and political dimensions of urban and communal spaces, examining their social and cultural dynamics as tools for transformation and resilience in the face of neoliberalism. Since 2020, she has been developing cultural projects aimed at democratizing art in public spaces. She holds master’s degrees in product design and in social and solidarity management, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Management Research at the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée – Gustave Eiffel.
Olivier Rachet holds an agrégation in modern literature and is certified in film and audiovisual studies. He currently contributes to various newspapers, magazines, and journals, including Artpress, The Art Newspaper, and Les Cahiers de Tinbad. He has contributed to anthologies on cinema (including *Abdellatif Kechiche: Un cinéma des sens*, published by Jacques Flament) and is preparing to publish his fifth book with Tinbad, an essay devoted to the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Basma Mansour is a researcher and columnist who explores the dynamics between politics, aesthetics, and the art market, while examining the concepts of postcolonialism and cultural accessibility. A graduate of the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan, as well as holder of two master’s degrees in art studies and visual arts from Jean Monnet University and Aix-Marseille University, she is particularly interested in the politicization of aesthetics and the commodification of cultural symbols in global art markets.
Shiran Ben Abderrazak is an author, an expert in the creative economy (UNCTAD/UNESCO), and a consultant in cultural development and Web3 technologies. He supports visual artists and projects in Brussels, Tunis, and Dakar. As co-founder of the Dar Eyquem artist residency, the MONO gallery, and the “Culture Sans Filtre” podcast dedicated to the visual arts, he contributes to Diptyk with articles on the art scenes of the MENA region and Africa, where his writing blends cultural economics and art criticism.
Magali Ohouens is an art historian and a doctoral candidate at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her research focuses on African arts and heritage from the 20th to the 21st century, with an emphasis on colonial and postcolonial studies. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the history of museums, culture, and the arts in Ghana from the 1920s to the 1970s. She teaches contemporary art at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the University of Paris Nanterre, as well as African arts at the École du Louvre.
Horya Makhlouf is an art historian, art critic, and independent curator. She is also the artistic coordinator and curator of special projects at the Palais de Tokyo. She writes for artists, art magazines, and art institutions. She has also contributed to the podcasts L’esprit critique (Mediapart), PQSD (Jeunes Critiques d’Art), and Verni(e)s (Projets Media). Most recently, she curated the exhibition “Une Affaire de famille” at the CAC Passerelle in Brest.
Salima El Aissaoui is a curator at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat. She pursues an engaged curatorial practice at the intersection of art history and current sociopolitical dialogues. She regularly collaborates with Moroccan galleries, mentors young artists, and writes critical essays on the contemporary art scene, notably for Diptyk.
Najat Saïdi is a photographer and filmmaker. After studying political science, she worked in international project management on environmental issues. She then joined Kourtrajmé. She now devotes herself to her artistic work, which explores, in particular, our relationship with the rest of the living world and issues specific to people in the diaspora. While participating in various projects as a technician, she regularly collaborates with the press, including Diptyk.
Marie Moignard is an art historian, a specialist in Moroccan photography, and an exhibition curator. In 2019, she curated the inaugural exhibition at the Tangier Photography Foundation, focusing on young Moroccan photographers. She has served on several juries for awards recognizing African photography (Cap Prize, LCC Program, Maghreb Photography Awards). She serves as an expert at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the Arab Foundation for the Image, and the Musée du Quai Branly.
Rania Kettani has been a student of political philosophy and contemporary art history at NYU Abu Dhabi since 2020. She is particularly interested in the connections between political dialogue and artistic representation. Rania aspires to raise the profile of artistic movements in the MENA region and to engage her generation in social reflection and cultural contribution through the arts. (to be updated; check with her)
Mohamed Rachdi is an artist, critic, and curator. He holds a Ph.D. in Art and Art Sciences (University of Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and taught at the University of Valenciennes before returning to Morocco to manage the Société Générale Group’s art collection. A lecturer and author of numerous books and essays on art, he co-founded Morocco Numerica to promote the development of digital arts in Morocco.
Houda Outarahout is a journalist, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She cut her teeth in France working for several print, online, and television news organizations. Upon returning to Morocco in 2012, she had the opportunity to collaborate with various media outlets, while also nurturing her love for visual storytelling. Today, she balances her various passions for writing and visual storytelling. She co-founded the production company HK Films to produce Moroccan documentaries.
Simon Njami is a Cameroonian writer, curator, essayist, and art critic. As a co-founder of *La Revue Noire*, he was one of the first to showcase works by African artists on the international stage through landmark exhibitions such as “Africa Remix” and “La Divine Comédie.” As co-curator of the first African Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), Simon Njami served as artistic director of the Rencontres de la Photographie de Bamako from 2001 to 2007 and of Dak’art in 2016 and 2018.
Brahim Alaoui is an art historian and curator. He began his career as a researcher at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, then served as director of the Museum of the Arab World Institute in Paris, where, between 1987 and 2007, he organized numerous exhibitions that contributed to the institution’s reputation. He now divides his time between consulting in cultural engineering, publishing, and curating exhibitions.
