The Moroccan artist Hamza Halloubi makes films that often take the form of letters or monologues in which he addresses himself to the viewer or a specific character. In his poetic video poems, he combines personal contemplations with the broader historical context. He works around themes such as memory, colonialism, alienation and migration. In addition, he regularly opts for a striking camera angle or technique.
Many of Halloubi’s works revolve around inner pain and sorrow and the silent desire for the mitigation of this pain. Exile, solitude and melancholy are themes that run through his oeuvre. Halloubi’s extremely personal video poems are inspired by his own experiences. He grew up in Tangiers, but emigrated to Brussels to study art and has since lived in Brussels and Ghent. Without ever making it concrete, his work touches on the boundary between Europe and Africa.
