Celebrating Meriem Bennani: Winner of the Eye Art & Film Prize 2019 for Pioneering Digital Video Art and Installations

This page celebrates Meriem Bennani as the recipient of the Eye Art & Film Prize 2019. It details her pioneering use of new digital techniques in video art, installations, and films to explore contemporary subjects like gender, identity, and migration.

Meriem Bennani, a video artist based in New York and born in Rabat, Morocco in 1988, was honored with the Eye Art & Film Prize 2019. She was selected for her significant contribution to the development of new forms of making and presenting film, expertly translating contemporary subjects such as gender, identity, migration, biotechnology, and religion into a high-tech idiom. Bennani utilizes augmented reality, inventive 3D animations, installations, and immersive environments, often infusing her work with a light, absurdly comic tone and a magic realist undercurrent. Her multimedia installations, videos, and drawings highlight North African representation, migrant displacement, and the impact of the digital revolution on perceived reality, drawing inspiration from commercials, reality television, and documentary forms. Works like _Fardaous Funjab_ (2014) and _FLY_ (2017) exemplify her approach, using fragmented imagery and layered narratives. Bennani's presentations are immersive, room-filling installations where screens and sculptural elements are precisely arranged for projected images, creating an overwhelming experience for visitors. Sandra den Hamer, director of Eye Filmmuseum and jury chair, praised Bennani's inventive filmmaking, playful digital distortion, and surrealist disruption, noting her fresh approach to sensitive subjects and her status as an important voice of her generation. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues like MoMA PS1 and Art Dubai.