Chaïbia Talal

Chaïbia Talal (الشعيبية طلال) (1929 – April 2, 2004) was a Moroccan painter.

Biography
Chaïbia was born in Choutka, a small village near El Jadida, Morocco in 1929. At the age of 13, she was sent to Casablanca by her parents to marry a 70-year-old man. By the age of 14 she had given birth to a son (Hocein), and by the age of 15 she had become a widow. When her husband died, she worked as a maid to earn money to support herself and her son. Talal was devoted to providing her son with an education, particularly academic literacy, although Talal herself would remain illiterate her entire life. After receiving art supplies from strangers in a dream, she was inspired to begin painting.

Her work was not initially well received in the Moroccan art world. Talal's son became a respected artist in his own right, and in 1965 introduced Talal to the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, Pierre Gaudibert who was impressed by her work. Following this meeting, her works were exhibited at the Goeth-institute in Casablanca and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 1966.

Being a self-taught artist, Talal was known for breaking traditional boundaries. Her work is categorized as "utsider art" which illustrates unconventional ideas by members of non-traditional art movements. She was influenced by the works of artists from the CoBrA painting movement. Her work is also considered by some people, such as journalist Ahmed El Fassi, to be an naïve.

In 2015, Moroccan filmmaker Youssef Britel created biographical movie, entitled Chaïbia. The film was written by David Villemin and Youssef Britel, and starring Saadia Azgoun as Chaïbia Talal.

In 2004, Talal died of a heart attack in Casablanca at the age of 75.

Talal's work continues to be shown including in the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture where Talal's work was included in section on Women in Society.

Expositions

 * 1966 - Goethe-Institut, Casablanca - Morocco.
 * 1966 - Solstice gallery, Paris - France
 * 1966 - Salon des Surindépendants, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris - France.
 * 1969 - "Ecole marocaine", Copenhagen - Denmark.
 * 1969 - "Kunstkabinett", Frankfurt – Germany
 * 1970 - "Les Halles aux Idées", Paris – France.
 * 1971 - "Dar America", Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Fes, Tangier – Morocco.
 * 1972 - Ventes aux enchères, Drouot, Paris – France
 * 1973 - "L’œil de Bœuf" gallery (CIPAC), Paris – France.
 * 1974 - "Ivan Spence" gallery, Ibiza – Spain
 * 1974 - "Salon des Réalités Nouvelles", Paris – France.
 * 1976 - "Biennale d’Art", Menton – France.
 * 1977 - "Salon de Mai", Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris – France.
 * 1977 - "Salon des Réalités Nouvelles", Paris – France.
 * 1980 - "Engel gallery", Rotterdam - Netherlands.
 * 1980 - "Fondation Joan Miró", Barcelona – Spain.

Awards

 * Gold medal of the French Academic Society for Education and Encouragement. - March 2003.