{"id":21573,"date":"2026-07-02T14:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T14:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/abdessamad-el-montassir-prefers-poetry-to-slogans\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:35:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:35:21","slug":"abdessamad-el-montassir-prefers-poetry-to-slogans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/en\/abdessamad-el-montassir-prefers-poetry-to-slogans\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdessamad El Montassir Prefers Poetry to Slogans"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"21573\" class=\"elementor elementor-21573 elementor-15214\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-03bddd0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"03bddd0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e239b4d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e239b4d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>By erasing everything that would tie the Sahara to a particular history or identity, the artist lets the plants, the stones, and the wind speak in its place. \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d is the most ambitious exhibition he has presented in France. <\/b><\/p><p>By Basma Mansour<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8823f85 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"8823f85\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3838.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-21578\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3838.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3838-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3838-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3838-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6181c15 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6181c15\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scenes from the exhibition \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d at La Friche La Belle de Mai in Marseille.\nPhotos \u00a9 Caroline Dutrey<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23e4958 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"23e4958\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e6ad6c9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e6ad6c9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>You enter the exhibition through a forest. Five screens, stark white acacia trees that tremble silently. The immersive installation  <i>  Sadra Kodia<\/i>  is based on a Sahrawi belief: every man is bound to an acacia tree, and the tree is etched into his eye at the moment of death. The tree bears the mark of the man. Even before catching sight of the first human face, the visitor is confronted with Abdessamad El Montassir\u2019s central theme: the memory of a life does not reside solely in people\u2019s minds; it takes root in the living world around them. In the desert where the artist is from, many things go unsaid\u2014out of modesty, out of pain, or because those who know claim the right to remain silent. Rather than forcing people to speak, Montassir turns to what cannot lie: plants, stones, sand, and the wind. \u201c<i>Everything around us is both a witness and a messenger<\/i>,\u201d he said. Every omission has its reason: not to appropriate what belongs to others, not to freeze what eludes them, to allow the unspoken word its right to remain so. It is an ethic, and it holds water. But what is stripped of its points of reference also becomes, by that very act, transportable. The opacity that shields the witness and the opacity that detaches the work from its homeland are the same gesture, viewed from both sides.    <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d76a857 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d76a857\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>Convey Rather Than Show<\/b><\/p><p><i>Galb\u2019Echaouf<\/i> is where the work escapes this slope\u2014by turning on itself. Khadija, born a nomad and now living in the city, can no longer put into words what she has been through, so she points to the ruins and the thorny plants. Dah, for his part, refuses to speak. The storyteller is a bush, the <i>daghmous<\/i>, bristling with needles. The entire exhibition revolves around the idea that the landscape sees in place of the silent men. The exhibition text repeats this: \u201cGo ask the desert.\u201d Yet the verse the artist displays on the screen says the opposite: the mountains have gone blind. The exhibition\u2019s central thesis\u2014that the earth bears witness\u2014is contradicted by this key phrase. The witness has lost its sight. Far from being a slip-up, this is the exhibition\u2019s most honest admission\u2014the suspicion that turning to the non-human is itself a fragile consolation, and that the earth is just as silent and damaged as people. If even the earth is blind, what reaches the visitor is no longer a testimony, but its atmosphere\u2014the mood of memory without its content. And a mood travels even farther than an image.        <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b25c6f4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"b25c6f4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56dd507 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"56dd507\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-21576\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3817-300x450.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db6912f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"db6912f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scenes from the exhibition \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d at La Friche La Belle de Mai in Marseille.\nPhotos \u00a9 Caroline Dutrey<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6fe5740 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"6fe5740\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5b4695f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5b4695f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>A Double-Edged Sword<\/b><\/p><p><i>\u00c2abide l\u2019kadia<\/i>  takes the paradox to its logical conclusion. The beads, enlarged here, served as secret maps for the Harratine, descendants of slaves. They were landmarks that the master was not supposed to be able to read, tools for escape and running away. Montassir recreates them in glass, blown at the Cirva (International Center for Research on Glass and the Visual Arts) by a team of glassblowers from Marseille\u2014polished, luminous, and displayed under gallery lighting. The object, whose sole purpose was to remain illegible, becomes a form to be viewed. The map that was meant to be hidden now sits prominently on a pedestal. The same reversal lies in wait for <i>Athar Dakira<\/i>, where the songs of the Harratine are accompanied by the sounds of instruments carved from desert flora, and <i>Asserfa<\/i>, which openly chooses to no longer depict the landscape but rather its transmission\u2014gray, grainy prints of places that may never have existed. The formal care is genuine, and it is this care that smooths out the rough edges and allows these restrained stories to slip into the realm of the object.<\/p><p>The circuit, for that matter, is already global, as the press kit states quite plainly. These works on confiscated memories and the right to silence were produced by the DRAC (Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs), the Villa Medici, the Frac (Regional Contemporary Art Fund) of Franche-Comt\u00e9, the Institut fran\u00e7ais, and, for <i>Sadra Kodia<\/i>, by Arts AlUla in Saudi Arabia. Marginalized narratives championed by major cultural institutions are commonplace in contemporary art, and this is precisely what subtraction makes possible without a hitch. The less a work reveals about its roots, the better it fits on any wall.<\/p><p><i>\u201cThe goal isn\u2019t to put on a historical exhibition<\/i>,\u201d warns curator Gabrielle Camuset, who refuses to let this work be reduced to issues of identity. Montassir had already put it more bluntly in the pages of <i>Diptyk<\/i>  in 2022. He works on the Sahara because he grew up there, not to make any claims. His caution is justified; the subject stifles any discussion, and it\u2019s clear that he prefers poetry to slogans. Yet in seeking to shield this work from any interpretation rooted in identity, we run the opposite risk. When a lived sense of belonging is transformed into pure forms\u2014into acacias of light and polished glass\u2014perhaps it is belonging itself that we are turning into a beautiful image. Montassir has anticipated this objection: his refusal to extract and translate aims to prevent the desert from becoming a postcard that we consume. The fact remains that the postcard and opacity share the same flip side\u2014both do without a caption. The crux of the exhibition lies precisely there: whether opacity shields us from this consumption or invites us into it, and whether the hurried visitor will take away anything other than the grace of the surfaces.       <\/p><div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 11\"><div class=\"layoutArea\"><div class=\"column\"><p><strong>\u2014 Abdessamad El Montassir, \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom,\u201d as part of the 2026 Mediterranean Season, La Friche La Belle de Mai, Marseille, through September 27, 2026.<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f52eb1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"5f52eb1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fef8b45 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"fef8b45\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3101.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-21575\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3101.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3101-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3101-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3101-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f2ab06e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f2ab06e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scenes from the exhibition \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d at La Friche La Belle de Mai in Marseille.\nPhotos \u00a9 Caroline Dutrey<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6e3f79f elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"6e3f79f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0f856ec elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"0f856ec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3829.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-21577\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3829.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3829-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3829-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FBDM_Vernissages_CarolineDutrey_200526-3829-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e0bcbcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e0bcbcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scenes from the exhibition \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d at La Friche La Belle de Mai in Marseille.\nPhotos \u00a9 Caroline Dutrey<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By erasing everything that would tie the Sahara to a particular history or identity, the artist lets the plants, the stones, and the wind speak in its place. \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d is the most ambitious exhibition he has presented in France. By Basma Mansour Scenes from the exhibition \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1602],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-journal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abdessamad El Montassir Prefers Poetry to Slogans &#8212; Diptykmag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.diptykmag.com\/en\/abdessamad-el-montassir-prefers-poetry-to-slogans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abdessamad El Montassir Prefers Poetry to Slogans &#8212; Diptykmag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By erasing everything that would tie the Sahara to a particular history or identity, the artist lets the plants, the stones, and the wind speak in its place. \u201cOn the Ruins, Stones Bloom\u201d is the most ambitious exhibition he has presented in France. 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