Chaïbia Talal () (1929 – April 2, 2004) was a
Moroccan painter.
Biography
Chaïbia was born in Chtouka, a small village near
El Jadida
El Jadida (, ) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2023.
The fortified city, b ...
, Morocco in 1929. At the age of 13, she was sent to
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
by her parents to marry a 70-year-old man.
By the age of 14 she had given birth to a son (
Hocein), and by the age of 15 she had become a widow.
When her husband died, she worked as a maid to earn money to support herself and her son. Talal was devoted to providing her son with an education, particularly academic literacy, although Talal herself would remain illiterate her entire life.
After receiving art supplies from strangers in a dream, she was inspired to begin painting.
Her work was not initially well received in the Moroccan art world.
Talal's son became a respected artist in his own right, and in 1965 introduced Talal to the director of the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Pierre Gaudibert who was impressed by her work.
Following this meeting, her works were exhibited at the Goethe-institute in Casablanca and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 1966.
Being a
self-taught
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions).
Overview
Autodi ...
artist, Talal was known for breaking traditional boundaries. Her work is categorized as "
utsider art" which illustrates unconventional ideas by members of non-traditional art movements.
She was influenced by the works of artists from the
CoBrA painting movement. Her work is also considered by some people, such as journalist Ahmed El Fassi, to be an naïve.
In 2015, Moroccan filmmaker Youssef Britel created
biographical movie, entitled ''Chaïbia.'' The film was written by David Villemin and Youssef Britel, and starring Saadia Azgoun as Chaïbia Talal.
In 2004, Talal died of a heart attack in Casablanca at the age of 75.
Talal's work continues to be shown including in the ''Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture'' where Talal's work was included in section on ''Women in Society''.
Expositions
* 1966 -
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...
,
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
-
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
.
* 1966 -
Solstice gallery,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
-
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* 1966 - Salon des Surindépendants,
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris - France.
* 1969 - "Ecole marocaine",
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
-
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
.
* 1969 - "Kunstkabinett",
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
–
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
* 1970 - "Les Halles aux Idées", Paris – France.
* 1971 - "Dar America",
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
,
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
,
Marrakech
Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...
,
Fes,
Tangier
Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...
– Morocco.
* 1972 -
Ventes aux enchères,
Drouot, Paris – France
* 1973 - "L’œil de Bœuf" gallery (CIPAC), Paris – France.
* 1974 - "Ivan Spence" gallery,
Ibiza
Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
–
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
* 1974 - "Salon des Réalités Nouvelles", Paris – France.
* 1976 - "Biennale d’Art",
Menton
Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...
– France.
* 1977 - "Salon de Mai", Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris – France.
*1977 - "Salon des Réalités Nouvelles", Paris – France.
* 1980 - "Engel gallery",
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
-
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.
* 1980 - "Fondation
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
",
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
– Spain.
Awards
* Gold medal of the ''
French Academic Society for Education and Encouragement''. - March 2003.
Further reading
* ''The artist's voice'' - by Chaibia Talal
* Flamand, Alain. ''Regard sur la peinture contemporaine au Maroc''. 221pp.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talal, Chaibia
1929 births
2004 deaths
Moroccan women painters
Naïve painters
Moroccan artists
20th-century Moroccan painters
20th-century women painters
People from Casablanca-Settat