Critiques
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U.N.O. Plastic Arts Exhibition - ARIANE ESSOR

Fatima Binet-Ouakka By Benhamza Mostafa

« Mother Ocean » abused by man, recounted by the painter Fatima Binet-Ouakka

Geneva, October 1998

Could there be a symbol more powerful, more authentic and evocative than « Mother Ocean » - a vast, generous space clothed in blue, sea-weed green and a thousand more shades and tints, shimmering with the changing moods and times of life ? Could there be a more pure or faithful image of mother ocean than that of a mother generously giving offerings and precious riches since the beginning of time and receiving in return, only ingratitude, aggression and violence of all kinds.

For the Moroccan-French painter Fatima Binet-Ouakka, this very question seems superfluous : this symbolism of ocean and mother came to her quite naturally when she created two plastic works presented at the exhibition « The Ocean and artistic creation » organised under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva and inaugurated at the Palace of Nations.

It must be said that the theme and context of this exhibition organised by the Ariane-Essor Association were particularly inspiring and stimulating. The idea was to organize a plastic arts exhibition bringing together artists from different continents around the theme of the ocean - in reference and homage to the United Nations declaration of 1998 as the international year of the ocean.
The aims and objectives could but appeal to all artists. UNO and UNESCO wanted to bring home to the international community the vital need and challenge to safeguard the oceans and the seas.

During an interview at the MAP office on the occasion of the opening , Madame Binet explained why she did not try to represent a traditional sea in the two works she showed. For he the symbolism of the sea is very strong - in the sea where there is so much beauty, there is also rubbish and filth poured into it. The sea is being destroyed and polluted ; it is only a small step to the image of a mother being torn apart and abused.

Observing Fatima Binet's two paintings one can see this colourful expression, dancing constantly from the abstract to the figurative, this destructive process of pollution : burst colours, broken, half created forms, almost incoherent movement, the ebb and flow of gestures and tones, dominated by waves of pure blue ;
However this destruction is never total or permanent, hope is always present. Hope of regeneration and re-birth, of re-purification. What better face, what purer image could better express this hope of purifying salvation than that of childhood.

Observing attentively one of these two paintings one can distinguish near the bottom of the canvas a tiny form ; that of a small child, touching in its fragility, moving in its vulnerability, its right hand stretched out towards this saviour earth-mother, losing itself in the innumerable fine branches of the labyrinth of the immense ocean, rather like a foetal form joined by an umbilical cord to the protective and generous waters of the mother.

Like a mother, the ocean, which has been polluted, aggressed and abused, needs to be protected and safeguarded. But such protection and safeguard only exists when accompanied by respect of the sea, of the mother (« mer » and « mère » in French)

For Fatima Binet (whose imagination is fed by the natural source of Moroccan culture with all its symbols and abundant colours ) Moroccan society must avoid the trends found in Western society where the ‘mother'' figure is only desirable when she is young and rejected, directly or indirectly, as soon as she ages. Respect for the sea/mother is fundamental and necessary for the preservation and safe-guard of these oceans of generosity.

But this respect must be nurtured and passed on to the next generation of children who will be either the saviours or the destroyers of the oceans. « The child must be taught to respect Nature » says, « for if we do not respect. Nature and the ocean, we cannot claim to respect human beings. »

It is because she is convinced that this exhibition dedicated to saving the oceans can put across the message and help to raise public awareness of the need to safeguard and protect oceans that the painter expresses her hope that this exhibition will be moved around the world but most importantly, she nurses the hope that this exhibition will find its way to Morocco.

Ariane-Essor, the association which organized the exhibition and its president, Madame Asilva Girardier, are planning to show this exhibition on the five cultural continents of UNESCO. If this exhibition moves to Morocco, for me the circle will be completed » says Fatima Binet. It is another way to express her love and attachment to Morocco, the country where she unceasingly draws inspiration, colour and emotion.

Born in Fez, qualified in psychology, in plastic arts and engraving, a former student of the ; « Beaux-Arts de Versaille  », Madame Fatima Binet-Ouakka has shown works in France and abroad since 1991.
She has lived in France for several years where she participates actively in artistic life.
She is a member of numerous associations and artistic Academies.
She is notably a member of the International Association of Plastic Arts (AIAP) under the auspices of UNESCO and Artistic Director, Communications Manager and vice-president of the « Cercle des Arts de Paris ».
The Moroccan foundation « Popular Bank for Education and Culture » ( FBPEC a subsidiary of the « Banque Populaire » group ) has entrusted Madame Binet with the mission of organizing a large exhibition of plastic works of art by young Moroccans residing in France as part of the Festival « Temps du Maroc.» (Times of Morocco ) which will be held in Paris in 1999.


Benhamza Mostafa