The Marrakech Biennale decided in 2016 to display its program in public spaces and free of charge to reach a wider group of people. Following this decision, they founded the first Marrakech street art festival: The MB6 Street Art Project. Eleven renowned international and local street artists were invited to paint murals in key public spaces all over the city. Follow us to the bustling streets of Marrakech for a visit to the highlights of this street art festival.
"MB6" Marrakech Street Art Festival Highlights
An amazing area to discover some of the works of the Marrakech street art festival is the "Place des Épices". It is right in the heart of the red city. Here on the rooftops, Lucy McLauchlan, Alexey Luka, Yesbee and Kalamour integrated their murals right above the vivid spice market. Enjoy a great view of these works at the terrace of the Café des Épices while sipping coffee and smelling the spices and herbs being traded below.
Nearby, while walking through the narrow streets of the medina, you can see Sickboy’s big colourful wall. A local guide told us that watching the artist working on this wall during the street art festival motivated one of the neighbours to ask for the leftover paint to create his own piece of art.
A bit hidden but nearby the Jemaa El Fna, you can find a big impressive wall: Remi rough and LX. One transformed a dull wall of a parking lot into an abstract colourful canvas.
Moving south and pretty close to the Kasbah, you will find Dotmasters' work. Aware of the local culture, he decided to paint massive red and pink roses: Morocco is famous for its superb rose oil.
Another large scale mural is located right outside the Bahia Palace. Giacomo Bufarini aka Run was the lucky artist who could paint this busy area at the street art festival. He left his recognisable imprint on its walls. If you look around the corner, you might find a flying carpet!
Last but not least, a masterpiece by MadC. She painted a magical colour explosion on a red Marrakech house wall reminiscing the Marrakech street art festival forever.
Find Marrakech's Street Art on the Map
While it was a bit difficult to find street art in Marrakech some time ago, it finally arrived. Now it is quite easy to stumble upon. Hopefully, more similar projects will pop up soon.
If you want to discover all these artworks in person, the interactive map below shows their location. With a bit of preparation and by taking a cab for the longer distances, you can easily visit them in just a few hours. The current status of the map is from mid 2016, but I will upgrade it on October 2017 during my next visit.
© All photos via Bart van Kersavond
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