Youssef El Idrissi is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural activist and researcher, based in Casablanca, Morocco. He holds a BA in Philosophy of Communications and Public Spaces, and a MA in Cultural & Artistic Engineering. In 2018, he founded several artistic initiatives such as the collective Kounaktif which aims to democratize access to arts and works at the intersection of ecology, technology and arts, and recently Dabdabat, a cultural platform raising awareness on the glocal challenges of our time through critical discourse and creative practices.
Within his artistic practice, he focuses on decolonization of imaginaries, indigenous mythologies, power relations, dynamics of the unconscious, interrelation between psyche and space, body and awareness, technology and living beings, errors (glitches) and symbiosis – and water bodies as solvent of power. He aims through his cultural and artistic work to connect the aesthetical and the political by deconstructing the norms, the socio-artistic barriers and old methods using alternative pedagogies, formats and interdisciplinary practice.
He has been part of the 1st African NFT exhibition with ArtxLagos in 2021. Lately, he was awarded a production grant by the French Institute in the framework of the art residency of Digital Lab to materialize his project “Subaquatic Landmark : Atlantean Template”. He has been also selected to be part of the Biennale of Dakar 2024 with an NFT and on-site exhibition. And one of his works, “On spaces & Species” has been recently selected in the Videoart Forum, in Saudi Arabia, awarded by Les pépinières Européennes de Création in France, and selected in ADAF 2023, the International Festival of Digital Arts of Greece.
He has been part of many creative programs such as Building Beyond led by Creative Industries NL and Prince Claus Fund; Emergent Artist Program by Diriyah Art Futures; Al Moutawssit Program in the framework of Manifesta13, to name a few.