La Conférence des Oiseaux is an exhibition that invites visitors on a spiritual, poetic, and visual journey, guided by the works of two artists: Mohamed Hamidi and Kendell Geers. Like the mystical poem by Attar of Nishapur, in which birds ascend toward the divine, this exhibition explores the quest for light, the inner transformation necessary to better open oneself to others, while celebrating the richness and diversity of African culture.
Through Hamidi’s birds and Geers’ flowers, La Conférence des Oiseaux reveals a unique dialogue between abstraction and symbolism, poetry and politics. Hamidi’s birds, embodiments of Epicureanism, symbolize the aspiration for unbridled freedom, while the Simurgh, the mythical bird of Sufi literature, seeks absolute spiritual elevation. These abstract and luminous forms resonate with the power of their lines and the intensity of their colors.
In response to this aerial quest, Geers’ flowers offer a vision that is both poetic and artistic. His works, in their beauty and complexity, transform into metaphors of the modern world, where each petal becomes an act of resistance, a tribute to memory, and a cry of rebirth. Through the image of the flower, Geers invites us to reflect on the challenges of the modern world, in resonance with Africa’s history and struggles. Under the seal of AniMystiKActivism, his works summon masks, flowers, and myths to question the memory and renewal of contemporary Africa.
La Conférence des Oiseaux highlights echoes between nature and the human spirit, between the visible and the invisible, between matter and the immaterial. The birds’ quest becomes that of the soul, a path of reflection on freedom, constraints, and the idea of the common good.
As Bernard Dadié said, “Africa is an open sky, a breath of hope.” This exhibition, while honoring the legacy of one of the masters of the Casablanca School and the South African artist who describes himself as an alchemist between the political and the spiritual, opens a window to a luminous future—a continent in perpetual metamorphosis. Through their works, Hamidi and Geers show us that Africa is not just a geographical place but a state of mind, a breath of life, a song of hope.
La Conférence des Oiseaux is a celebration of color, form, movement, and memory. It is both an intimate and universal homage, an invitation to reflection, contemplation, and the search for truth: “A narrative flowing at the confluence of authentic artistic influence, a precious alloy from the northern tip to the southern shore of the continent.” (Fouzia Maarouf, curator of the exhibition)
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