Untitled 14km - Youness Atbane

A satirical look at contemporary art’s engagement with Arab identity through the dramatised conception of an imagined exhibition.

Untitled 14km investigates how the contemporary art world engages with questions of identity, with a particular focus on what is framed as “Arab identity.” 

In the imaginary museum of North Africa, Middle East Contemporary Art, an Arab-Andalusian poet, a museum director, a curator, and a contemporary artist attempt to conceive an exhibition that re-examines modernism through two parallel lenses: the poetic legacy of the Arab-Andalusian era and the practices of established contemporary Arab artists. Their exchanges reveal the tensions embedded in translating historical narratives into contemporary artistic frameworks.

Through this constructed situation, the project exposes the underlying negotiations, frictions, and power dynamics that shape the definition of a so-called “contemporary Arab identity” within the global art system. It questions legitimacy, authority, and representation, highlighting how identity is not fixed but continuously produced through discourse, competition, and institutional validation.

Coproduced by:

• Studio Emad EDDIN Stiftelsen & The Arab Arts Focus, with the support of the Ford Foundation
• Sundance Institute
• The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC)
• Moussem Nomadic Art Center 

Supported by:

• THE 18Marrakech
• The uZine
• Artlab Berlin
• LTK4 Cologne
• Minister of Rauyame Culture of Morocco

Youness Atbane

Born in 1982 in Safi, Morocco, Youness Atbane is an artist working across a variety of media. By examining ambiguity and origins through experience and variation, Atbane seeks to enhance the dynamic between audience and author, objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different interpretations.

In 2002, he studied graphic art and design in Casablanca. He has been involved in various artistic programs and performances in France, Morocco, Belgium, and Spain. In 2008, he earned an MA in choreography from the "EX E.R.CE08" program at the National Choreographic Centre of Montpellier. In 2010, he obtained a Master’s degree in Art and Museology from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France.

His work bears strong political references, responds directly to his surrounding environment, and uses his own everyday experiences as a starting point. With a subtle, minimalist approach, he seeks to seduce the viewer into a world of ongoing equilibrium and the interval that articulates the stream of daily events in order to find poetic meaning in everyday life. His artistic interests focus on the limitations of communication used to visualize reality, the attempt at dialogue, the dissonance between form and content, and the dysfunctions of language. In short, the lack of clear references is a key element in his work.

Atbane currently lives and works in Casablanca and Berlin. He has exhibited his installations and performances at La Casa Encendida in Madrid, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, the Parallel Project at the 2011 Venice Biennale, the Talmart Gallery in Paris, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Mohammed VI Museum of Contemporary Art in Rabat, and, most recently, the Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Conception: Youness Atbane

Associated Artists: Aziz Nadif / Youness Atbane / Zouheir Atbane Kamal Adissa / Anna Weissenfels

Singing: Aziz Nadif

Sound Creation: Zouheir Atbane

Production Manager: Henri Jules Julien