Hicham Gardaf

e-flux Film is pleased to present Hicham Gardaf’s In Praise of Slowness (2023) as the August 2025 edition of Staff Picks. Hicham Gardaf @gardaf (b. in Tangier, Morocco) works across photography and moving image, often engaging with ideas of time, place and transformation. He is drawn to sites that carry social or spatial tension, such as landscapes shaped by displacement, urbanisation or quiet forms of resistance. Through slow, observational processes, he explores how environments reflect broader political and temporal conditions. Im the face of the global economic and technological forces reshaping the city of Tangier, the profession of the bleach vendors seems to be on the verge of disappearance, yet this filmic portrait of their supply chain—and notably their insistent chanting—conveys acoustic and visual images of endurance. In Praise of Slowness speaks to the accelerated urbanization and industrialization of Tangier, but also attests to how locally situated choreographies of Slowness articulate modes of resistance to the speed of capitalism. The work will be streamed on e-flux Film until August 31. View it at the link in the bio.

Continuing the dialogue between painting and photography. Slide 1: Josef Albers, Homage to the Square, Suspended, 1953 (@albers_foundation ) Slide 2: Hicham Gardaf, Lokus, 2015

Continuing the dialogue between painting and photography. Slide 1: Hicham Gardaf, La Cité Radieuse, 2015 Slide 2: Josef Albers, Variant / Adobe: «Marble Inlay», 1958, copyright 2014 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation

Hicham Gardaf, Positions: Positions is Photo London’s platform for artists without gallery representation, returning at Olympia in 2026 with curator Maria Sukkar (@mariasukkar ) and support from Julius Baer (@bankjuliusbaer ). Born in Tangier and based in London, Hicham Gardaf (@gardaf ) works across photography and moving image. His series The Red Square (2014–16) considers the visual relationship between painting, photography and architecture through suburban facades on the outskirts of Tangier.

Hicham Gardaf works across photography and moving image, often engaging with ideas of time, place and transformation. He is drawn to sites that carry social or spatial tension, such as landscapes shaped by displacement, urbanisation or quiet forms of resistance. Through slow, observational processes, he explores how environments reflect broader political and temporal conditions. Gardaf approaches these mediums not only as tools for documentation but as spaces for speculation, perception and re-interpretation. His practice is concerned with what images hold and what they fail to reveal, how they shape memory, suggest presence or absence, and shift meaning over time. Recent screenings and exhibitions include the 74th Berlinale in Berlin, Kettle’s Yard (@kettlesyard ) in Cambridge, Frac MÉCA (@fracmeca ) in Bordeaux, MACAAL (@macaal_ ) in Marrakech, and Fondazione MAST (@fondazionemast ) in Bologna. Hicham Gardaf (@gardaf ) is currently featured in On Landscape, our digital group project. Discover the full exhibition via the link in our bio. ~~~ On Landscape Digital Group Project 31 March - 28 April, 2026 Artist Portrait by Maja Ngom Installation View: The Red Square, Hicham Gardaf, 2016 #ContemporaryArt #TaymourGrahneProjects #DubaiArtGallery #OnLandscape

A Camel's Skeleton Scattered along the Red Sea Al Qahma, SA 2024

Tanger, 2013

Season of Iris tingitana 1. Claudio Bravo, Irises, 1990 2. Iris tingitana bulb, photographed in Umberto Pasti’s garden for The World of Interiors, 2019 3. Yto Barrada, Iris et Ronces (Iris tingitana), 2007

Abdellah Taïa, Paris, 2014.

Continuing my exploration of the dialogue between painting and photography. Slide 1: Edward Hopper, Sunlight in a Cafeteria (detail), 1958, 102.1 × 152.7 cm Slide 2: Ahmad, c-print, 2015, 80 × 80 cm More of these pairings to follow.

Christopher Gibbs, Tangier, 2015.

Back in 2014, I began a research project exploring painters who used photography as a tool for painting, and, conversely, photographers influenced by painting. I started my own experiment, searching for found scenes that echoed certain paintings. This process eventually led to the development of The Red Square series. I’ll be sharing more of these pairings here over time. Slide 1: Nicolas de Staël, Agrigente, 1953, oil on canvas, 73 × 100 cm Slide 2: Provisional Structure 8, 2015 (detail)