Farid Belkahia

In the early 1960s, Belkahia made works that confront colonial regimes and political conflicts. This image captures the violence of the French colonial forces during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62). Belkahia carved the figure out of the paint. This may relate to the physical torture of the Algerian figure by the French colonial forces. Belkahia returned to Morocco in 1962, six years after Moroccan independence from French colonial rule. He became a key member of the Casablanca Group of artists. They rejected the influence of Western European education and art history. The group believed in creating a civic art practice rooted in traditional Moroccan arts and visual culture.