Mahi Binebine

Mahi Binebine (ماحي بنيبين) is a Moroccan painter and novelist born in Marrakech in 1959. Binebine has written six novels which have been translated into various languages.

Career
Born in 1959 in Marrakech, Mahi Binebine moved to Paris in 1980 to continue his studies in mathematics, which he taught for eight years. He then devoted himself to writing and painting. He wrote several novels, which have been translated into a dozen languages. He emigrated to New York from 1994 to 1999. His paintings are part of the permanent collection at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. He returned to Marrakech in 2002 where he currently lives and works.

In "Mamaya’s Last Journey" the author is drawing on an episode from his family history. His brother Aziz was one of the young officers who had taken part in the failed military coup against King Hassan II in 1971. For 18 years, he was imprisoned in the desert camp of Tazmamart, under conditions of unimaginable and almost indescribable brutality. Of the 56 prisoners, only half survived; among them, Aziz Binebine. Mahi Binebine's fellow writer Tahar Ben Jelloun took this story as the basis for his novel This Blinding Absence of Light.

Welcome to Paradise, the English translation of Cannibales (by Lulu Norman) was short-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2004. Horses of God, also translated by Lulu Norman (original: Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen), was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award in 2014. It was made into a feature film in Morocco in 2011, called Horses of God, directed by Nabil Ayouch and selected for the official Moroccan entry for best foreign language film for the 2013 Oscars.

In 2020, Mahi won the Mediterranean Prize for his novel "Rue du pardon".

Novels

 * Le sommeil de l'esclave, Ed. Stock 1992, ISBN 2234024889
 * Les funérailles du lait, Ed. Stock 1994, ISBN 9954167412
 * L'ombre du poète, Ed. Stock 1997, ISBN 2234046688
 * Pollens, Ed. Fayard 2001, ISBN 2213609969
 * Terre d'ombres brulée, 1997 Ed. Fayard, ISBN 2213617627
 * Cannibales, Ed. Fayard 1999, Ed. L'Aube, ISBN 2213604444 (English Translation Welcome to Paradise)
 * Le griot de Marrakech, 2005 Ed. L'Aube, ISBN 275260212X
 * Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen, Ed. Flammarion 2010 ISBN 2081236362 (English Translation "Horses of God", French Prix du roman arabe'' Movie by Nabil Ayouch, Les chevaux de Dieu English Translation Horses of God
 * Le Seigneur vous le rendra, Ed. Flammarion 2013, ISBN 2213670846
 * Le fou du Roi, Ed. Stock 2017, ISBN 223408265X

Exhibitions
2017 Galerie Abla Ababou, Rabat Art Paris (Grand Palais) Galerie DX Rétrospective - Galerie Claude Lemand

2016 Musée MACMA, Marrakech.

2015 Insoumission Forum international des droits de L'Homme, Marrakech, Musée de la Palmeraie

2014 Musée de la Palmeraie, Marrakech

2013 Galerie Document 15, Paris

2012 Galerie 38, Casablanca Galerie Benamou, Paris

2011 Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin Galerie Loft (Expo à six mains avec Mourabiti et Yamou), Casablanca 2010 Galerie Atelier 21 (Casablanca) AAART Foundation, Kitzbühel, Autriche

2009 53ème Biennale de Venise Venice Biennale AAART Foundation - Autriche Galerie CMOOA, Rabat Galerie Delacroix, Tanger 2008 Galerie Atelier 21 - Casablanca Galerie Violon Bleu - Londres Galerie Navarra - 75 Faubourg, Paris Galerie Loft, Paris Galerie Bailly, Paris Fondation FAAP, Sao Paolo 2007 Siège Société Générale, Casablanca Galerie Nationale Bab Rouah, Rabat Galerie Noir sur blanc, Marrakech Palais des Congrès, Grasse (France) Le Lazaret Olandini, Ajaccio (Avec Yamou)

2006 Kasbah Agafay, Marrakech Galerie Venise Cadre, Casablanca Galerie les Atlassides, Marrakech

2005 Galerie Venise-Cadre, Casablanca Galerie Atlassides, Marrakech Musée Archéologique de Silves (Portugal) Eglise de la Miséricorde, Silves (Portugal) Gemap, Casablanca

2004 Arte Invest,  Rome Festival Arte Mare Bastia (corse) Bellas Artes, Madrid Galerie Atalante, Madrid Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Köln

2003 Espace Actua, Casablanca (avec Yamou) Galerie Bab el kebir, Rabat (avec Selfati) Galerie AAM, Rome Studio Bocchi, Rome Fundacione Maturen, Tarazona. Galerie Baskoa, Barcelonne. Kunst Köln, Galerie Brigitte Schenk

2002 Galerie Dahiez & Associés, Zurich Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Köln Musée de Marrakech Société Générale Marocaine, Casablanca Institut Cervantes, Tanger Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Kunst Köln Ministère de la culture, Abu Dhabi

2001 Tinglado 4 Moll de Costa, Taragone Palais des congrès, Grasse.

2000 Espace Paul Ricard, Paris Galerie El Manar, Casablanca

1999 Galerie Stendhal, New York Galerie du Fleuve, Paris Galerie Brigitte Shenk, Köln 1998 Galerie Ott, Düsseldorf Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington D.C.

1997 Galerie Stendhal, New York. 1989 Contemporary French Art Gallery, New York 1988 Galerie la Découverte, Rabat 1987 Galerie de L'ONMT, Paris