By the Light’s Whim: Exhibition of the Painter Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun to Showcase Unique Stained Glass Exhibition in Casablanca
Celebrated artist Tahar Ben Jelloun is set to take over the L’Atelier 21 art gallery in Casablanca from January 27 to March 7, 2026, for an unprecedented exhibition in Morocco. The event will feature a series of ten stained glass pieces inspired by his paintings, alongside a selection of canvases specially presented for the occasion.
As a renowned writer and painter, Ben Jelloun has long dedicated his oeuvre to unraveling the mysteries of light. Thus, it is no surprise that he has turned to the art of stained glass—an art form that exists solely to capture light. Titled "Au gré de la lumière" (In Harmony with Light), the exhibition unveils a new dimension in Ben Jelloun’s work, where pictorial gestures blossom in the transparency and brilliance of stained glass. This creates a luminous language in which floating motifs and colors converse, embodying a nearly mystical quest for the enigma of light.
In the preface of the exhibition catalog, Ben Jelloun reflects on the genesis of this project and his collaboration with master glassmaker Philippe Brissy. He states, "It was during a visit to the small church in the village of Le Thoureil, on the Loire, where I designed the templates for stained glass windows, that Aziz Daki and Nadia Amor conceived the idea of utilizing the wonderful talent of Philippe Brissy, a glass master based in Saumur. They envisioned transforming some of my canvases into stained glass works. It took him a year of work to create the ten stained glass pieces exhibited for the first time at L’Atelier 21. Something magical is present. The light, instinctively captured, illuminates transparent spaces where, in filigree, the naked childhood with its untouched soul emerges behind the signs."
He adds, "These ten stained glass works are living entities. They require precise lighting, and in some cases, they must allow the light of the sky to touch them, even if briefly. As Louis Aragon wrote: ‘I explain the sun on the shoulder of thought.’ Let’s say I explain nothing; I believe in the sun as the star of secrets. Its lights are silences inhabited; these stained glass pieces are the witnesses and companions of those silences."
Born in 1947 in Fès, Tahar Ben Jelloun splits his time between Paris, Tangier, and Marrakech. His works are part of numerous private and public collections, including those of the Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation (Spain), the San Salvatore in Lauro Museum (Italy), the Arab World Institute (France), and the Villa Harris, Museum of Tangier (Morocco).
