The exhibition "Tomorrow is Cancelled - Art and Views on Moderation" brings together 23 contemporary artists who confront humanity’s relationship to the environment using different mediums. Rita Alaoui’s video installation explores her Moroccan family heritage and pays tribute to the art of using medicinal plants.
Born in 1972 in Rabat, Morocco, multimedia artist Rita Alaoui has always been drawn to nature, where she finds endless inspiration for paintings, sculptures, collages and video works.
When approached by the EDF Group Foundation in Paris to participate in a collective exhibition with the theme of sobriety – or moderation – she chose to return to a project she’d already been working on for a while called the "Lawson Cataplasm Garden".
She had begun collecting information about her family heritage, in particular the use of Lawsonia inermis a medicinal plant, also known as henna, used by her Moroccan great-grandmother.
"It all began with a small anecdote from when I was a child," Alaoui told RFI.
"My great-grandmother would make a paste from henna and apply it to my arms which I kept scratching because I had eczema."
Usually associated with a form of temporary tattoo applied by women for weddings or other celebrations in North African cultures, Alaoui wanted to remind people of the ancient healing properties of the plant.
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"I wrote a lot, I did a lot of research into herbalism and therapeutic practices. It was a revelation when it came to the poultice. I am an artist, a visual artist. I manipulate materials all the time. I thought to myself, this is great, it’s going to be a tool for me, both to heal myself but also to leave a trace of this history."
She found the best way to pay tribute to “this woman who gave me a lot of love” was to make a video, to re-enact the healing rituals linked to her childhood.
Back to basics
The notion of "going back to the basics" became a driving force for the project and linked it more closely to the themes of the exhibition.
How can society return to a healthier, more nurturing place? How can society slow down, connect to nature and take the time to care for one another?
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"It is truly a project which links both heritage, transmission and the care that we must give to the earth, because without the earth we cannot do anything," Alaoui says.
"Obviously, I’m not saying we can cure everything with plants, we mustn’t be naïve. But I think many of our modern ills could be soothed by using plants," she explains.
To view Alaoui’s work, visitors are invited to enter a cosy, dark alcove decorated with a display of dried henna leaves – which they can touch or smell if they wish. On the walls, several screens relay the images of the artist, mixed with archival photographs.
Stay positive
A narrator’s voice emerges from speakers around the alcove, sharing anecdotes linked to the artist’s family story.
Slightly hypnotic, Alaoui’s slow art performance provides a counterbalance to the speed of today’s society and its unhealthy obsession with consumerism.
Despite being concerned about the future and where humanity is going, she refuses to fall prey to dark thoughts.
"There is this little voice inside me that says we have to stay positive. I don't want to fall into something catastrophic. I want to do good to myself, I want to do good to others. I would like people who see this project to have a little moment where they feel enveloped, protected."
Rita Alaoui is one of 23 artists in the exhibition "Tomorrow is Cancelled - Art and Views on Moderation" at the EDF Group Foundation in Paris until 29 September 2024.
