Slimen Elkamel, Nirvana Time, 2025
BOOTH 27
Nil Gallery is proud to present a curated group exhibition at 1-54 New York, featuring the works of Sara Aït Benabdallah (Morocco), Girma Berta (Ethiopia), Slimen Elkamel (Tunisia), Abdallah El Hariri (Morocco), and Léo Nataf (France).
These artists, spanning different generations and geographies, share a commitment to reimagining heritage, interrogating identity, and exploring the intersections between tradition and contemporary expression. Working across photography, painting, sculpture, and installation, they offer distinct yet interwoven narratives that reflect the evolving landscape of African and diasporic art.
Girma Berta documents the energy of African cities with striking, painterly photographs that blend graphic design and photography. His portraits of people in transit—on mopeds, bikes, or foot—capture the rhythm of everyday life with honesty, movement, and bold color.
Sara Aït Benabdallah explores the role of women in Moroccan society through conceptual photography and installations. Drawing on her roots in Marrakech and collaborations with local artisans, she interrogates rituals, expectations, and the quiet ways women reclaim space and identity.
Slimen Elkamel draws from the poetic and mythic traditions of rural Tunisia to create vivid, narrative-rich paintings. Blending written word and image, his work channels memory and imagination into layered visual stories that evoke both personal and collective histories.
Abdallah El Hariri, a foundational figure of Moroccan modernism, merges geometric abstraction with Arabic calligraphy to form a unique visual language. As part of the influential Casablanca School, his work reclaims cultural symbols through a modernist lens, linking spiritual heritage to formal innovation.
Léo Nataf uses materials such as bone, flint, and metal—often transformed by fire—to create sculptural works that evoke ritual, memory, and the sacred. Informed by his multicultural background and global fieldwork, his practice bridges anthropology, mythology, and contemporary art.
Together, these artists navigate the complexities of identity, heritage, and transformation—offering powerful reflections on what it means to belong, to remember, and to create anew.
