Usually, when a building is under renovation, the message is pretty clear: come back when we’re done.
Casablanca’s historic Teatro Italia is doing the opposite.
The theatre is temporarily opening its doors while restoration work is still underway, turning the unfinished building itself into part of an exhibition for the first edition of Morocco Design.
From today, October 5 to 7, the space is hosting L’Axe Invisible, a solo exhibition by Moroccan designer Hamza Kadiri.
And the setting might be as interesting as the exhibition.
Instead of covering up the building’s current state, the project works with it. Raw walls, exposed surfaces and traces of the ongoing renovation become part of the experience, creating a space somewhere between construction site, historic theatre and contemporary design exhibition.
It is also a rare chance to step inside Teatro Italia before its transformation is complete.
Kadiri’s work is known for exploring materials, craftsmanship and the relationship between objects and the spaces around them, which makes an unfinished historic theatre a pretty fitting place to show it.
The exhibition is open from 11 AM to 8 PM on October 5 and 6, before a shorter final day from 11 AM to 2 PM on October 7.
Casablanca has plenty of polished galleries and finished cultural spaces.
This weekend, though, one of the more interesting ones is unfinished on purpose.
Come for the design. Stay because the walls are literally still loading.
