Galerie Caroline O’Breen is pleased to present Dreamland, a solo exhibition of Mounir Raji opening on 20 April 2024. Mounir Raji (1982, NL) is a Dutch-Moroccan photographer, image-maker and researcher. For a period of five years (2017-2022), Raji spent much of his time traveling around Morocco in the areas rarely visited by tourists. The outcome of this investigation is an artist book Dreamland – a deeply personal narrative woven from Raji's impressions of his motherland. The exhibition incorporates archival videos sourced from his family archive, enhancing the sense of personal interpretation of the past that permeates the project.
Fascinated by daily life and photographing his family as well as strangers, Raji creates a nostalgic view of Morocco reminiscent of his youth. The work, on the one hand, is idealisation, and on the other hand, it’s an insight into the everyday. The vivid colours of landscapes, the soft use of light and the embrace of the blazing sun resemble a dream world or an idyllic memory. However, amidst this dream-like imagery, Raji captures the essence of ordinary street life, the cityscape in the middle of the desert, and the surrounding nature. In juxtaposing idealisation with everyday moments, Dreamland becomes an exploration of this dual perspective.
Linked with the video from Raji’s family archive, Dreamland is less an objective document and more a personal interpretation of the past. To what extent does the homeland begin to resemble an ideal world? For Mounir, this project is about the sense of warmth and safety one experiences reuniting with family, and also about feelings of trust, freedom and hope.