Zineb Benjelloun (Morocco)
Image courtesy of the artist
Moroccan illustrator and graphic designer Zineb Benjelloun comes from a television and documentary filmmaking background but refers to drawing as her first love. The 30-year old artist, who was born and raised in Casablanca, relocated to France for university where she studied and worked for eight years before returning home to work in television. Her freelance work includes illustrations for children's books, logos for local and international companies and graphic design for public awareness campaigns. Benjelloun, who seeks to reaffirm her Moroccan culture and identity through sketches, portraits, comics, watercolors, silkscreens, and documentaries, says her inspiration comes directly from details in her immediate surrounding, her close friends and the rich iconography of the North African urban landscape. “I compose most of my drawings from pictures taken from the reality," she told us over e-mail. "I don't invent anything, except the point of view and composition. It’s a kind of like a movie without a voiceover, you can see all the scenes and then compose your own stories and impressions.” She cites pioneering Moroccan singer Houcine Slaoui, Finnish author Arto Passillina and the aesthetics behind Brazil’s Cinema Novo, where the objective was to show Brazil in a Brazilian way, as her major artistic influences.
On what she loves most about being an illustrator:
"It’s always new, every drawing is a new way to explore a subject and a new point of view. Each drawing is a new adventure to put all my attention, love, questions and reflections to action. The action is to share with people all the details that we see everyday to remind us that we are a community with all our beauty and contradictions."
On the need for African visibility and representation through illustration:
“I think we need to see ourselves amidst all the foreign images that don't represent us. Moroccans and other Africans have their place in the international visual landscape. We exist, not only as tourist attractions, but also as people with our own identity and voices to share with others.”
