Mehdi-Georges Lahlou

Franco-Moroccan artist, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, places the question of identity at the center of his research and instead of sacralizing it, he works on all the borders that can be crossed, whether they are of gender, belief or domination. Using objects and traditional symbols, alternately through performance, photography or sculpture, the artist deconstructs commonplaces and received ideas. In the work The Conference of the palm trees, nine dead palm trees from different regions of the world and affected by various diseases, are meticulously explored. This series of microscopies, carried out in the laboratory, reveals the internal structures of these plants, enlarged and colored, as if to constitute a decorative object. Often considered as symbols of exotic lands, coveted and imported, the palm trees become here the symbol of a fragility due to the hand of man, establishing a link between their destiny and broader issues such as climate change, exploitation of natural resources, biodiversity and the historical and contemporary repercussions of exploitation and a form of colonialism.