Mina Binebine Presents Éclosion, Her First Contemporary Art Exhibition in Marrakech
Moroccan designer Mina Binebine opens a new chapter in her creative journey with Éclosion, her first contemporary art exhibition, unveiled in Marrakech during the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Hosted at Maison Ach, the exhibition marks a decisive shift from fashion to the visual arts, while preserving the emotional depth, craftsmanship, and introspection that define her work.
Trained in Los Angeles in fashion and entrepreneurship, Mina Binebine founded her eponymous brand in Marrakech after working in luxury lingerie. Her designs, recognized for blending Moroccan artisanal techniques with contemporary silhouettes, have been presented in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Marrakech, and Saudi Arabia. In 2026, she extends her creative language beyond garments, embracing contemporary art as a natural continuation of her exploration of identity, femininity, and transformation.
The origins of Éclosion date back to 2021 and a quietly powerful encounter. On her daily route, Binebine repeatedly noticed a woman seated on a street corner, trying to sell a barrel filled with mismatched, worn, and forgotten buttons. Objects overlooked and stripped of value. This recurring image raised a fundamental question that would become central to her artistic practice: what can be done with what the world no longer wants?
Moved by this silent scene, she purchased the barrel and began sewing the buttons onto fashion pieces such as corsets, jackets, vests, and berets. These creations quickly stood out as intense, singular works, charged with emotion and symbolism. The project was named Éclosion, evoking both the blooming of a flower bud and the emergence of an identity. Rather than disappearing, Éclosion evolved, matured, and transformed, much like a living organism.
The turning point came with the decision to leave the garment behind and move toward the canvas. Each button is now individually covered with cream cotton canvas, the same material used for clothing prototypes. Humble and imperfect, this fabric bears traces of trial, error, cutting, and reconstruction. It becomes a metaphor for process, for what is unfinished, and for the human search for form and meaning.
In these works, every button carries a story. Memories, fears, traumas, desires, dreams, and inner tensions are stitched together, forming a unified structure that the artist describes as an inner armor. An armor of the self and of life, rooted in personal values and lived experience. Yet within this unity remains a fundamental truth: even within the collective, a part of each individual stays singular, untamed, and sometimes alone.
Éclosion explores this tension between belonging and individuality through three previously unseen mixed media canvases. Presented in the intimate setting of Maison Ach during the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Marrakech, the exhibition positions Mina Binebine at the crossroads of fashion, craftsmanship, and contemporary art.
With Éclosion, Mina Binebine invites viewers to reconsider what is often ignored, and to recognize beauty, strength, and meaning in what appears fragile or unfinished. This first exhibition stands as a deeply personal statement, affirming her transition into the contemporary art scene while remaining faithful to the values that have shaped her creative path.
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