Born in 1947, Aïn Beda, Algeria. He currently lives and works in Paris, France.
Between 1967 and 1977, he studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts both in Algiers and Paris, then at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs and the Institut d’Urbanisme in Paris.
Being the descendant of an old Sufi family in Algeria, Koraichi’s work belongs firmly within the Sufi tradition and spirituality, yet encompassing modernity and universality. Through a wide variety of mediums and materials, from paper to ceramic, he considers his work to be anchored in the context of the sacred script and magical signs. In his art, the aesthetic is intimately linked to the word, or language, as it includes Arabic script and poetry. He’s been working extensively with poetry and literature publications. Koraichi has collaborated with a number of recognized poets and authors, among them Mahmoud Darwish, Mohamed Dib, Jamel Eddine Bencheikh, René Char, Nancy Huston and Michel Butor. In 1995 he was one of the six international artists, along with Friedensreich Hunderwasser (Austria), Souleymane Keita (Senegal), Roberto Matta (Chile), Robert Rauschenberg (USA) and Dan You (Vietnam), who were selected to take part in the UNESCO art project Six Flags for Tolerance.
His work has been exhibited extensively worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and 2001, the Museum of Modern Art of New York in 2006, the British Museum in London in 2006, the Hermitage Museum in St-Petersburg, the Metropolitan Museum and the Grey Gallery in New York in 2008. He also executed one stained-glass window for the Chapelle Sainte-Cécile, Ceillac, France. Meanwhile he’s been mostly working monumental installations such as ‘Les Ancêtres liés aux étoiles’ (An Ancestry Linked to the Stars) at Le Mejan, Arles in France; ‘Les Sept Dormants’ (The Seven Sleepers) at the Espace Riquet in Béziers, France; and ‘The Path of Roses’ at La Citadelle in Algiers, then at the Abu Dhabi Festival, Emirates Palace in 2011. His exhibition project ‘Les Maîtres Invisibles’ (the Invisible Masters) presented in 2009 at La Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, France, is a tribute to fourteen great mystic personalities from the Islamic world (among the most renowned ones are Ibn Arabi, Rûmi, Attar, Rabia Al Adawya…); He took part in "Written Images: Contemporary Calligraphy from the Middle East", Sudaram Tagore Gallery, New York (2011) and Hong Kong (2012). "Miragens : Arte Contemporânea no Mundo Islâmico" (Mirages: Contemporary art in the Islamic World) at Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da Repùblica, Endereço and Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2011); "Sajjil : A Century of Modern Art", Mathaf - the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha; The Future of Tradition - The Tradition of Future : 100 Years After the Exhibition ’Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art’ at Haus der Kunst in Munich (2010); the 8th Festival: Spain from three cultures / Espace Écureuil, Marseille. He won the Jameel Prize 2011 with his installation The Invisible Masters, which was then exhibited at Victoria & Albert Museum in London (2011), then at the Arab World Institute in Paris and Casa Arabe in Madrid (2012); In November 2012, his work was showcased in "Systems and Patterns" at The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. His work was exhibited at the Marrakech Biennale 2016. In addition, he is regularly represented at international art fairs such as in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Marrakech and Paris by Elmarsa gallery
The art of Rachid Koraichi has been the subject of a wide variety of art and literature publications. His works have been widely shown around the world, and can be found in many private and public collections such as the British Museum in London, the Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf) in Doha, the Abraaj collection in Dubai, the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi, the National Museum for African Art in Washington, D.C., the Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Darat al Funun/The Khalid Shoman Foundation in Amman, the V&A museum in London and many more.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Graduated from L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d’Alger
Graduated from L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris
Graduated from L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris
Graduated from L’Institut d’Urbanisme de l’Académie de Paris
PRIZES
2013 Prix Institut de France, Fondation Prince Louis de Polignac, Paris, France
2011 The Jameel Prize
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art of Paris, France
Musée nationaldes Arts d'Afriqueet d'Océanie, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art of Cairo, Egypt
British Museum, London, UK
Museum of Mankind, London, UK
Vesti Corporation, Boston, USA
Cheminal Bank, New York, USA
Museum Voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
National Gallery, Amman, Jordan
National Gallery, Kuwait
Museum of Modern Art of Tunis, Tunisia
Museum of Contemporary Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Cabinet des estampes - Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, France
Multimedia library of Limoges, France
Museum of Contemporary Art, Institut du Monde Arabe (IAW), Paris, France
Foundation Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal
Fondation A.Shoman, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Worl Bank, Washington, USA
SELECTION OF SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Aicon Gallery, New York, USA
2013 ‘Livres d’artiste de Rachid Koraichi’, Éditions & Espace Méridianes, Montpellier, France
2011 ‘Path of Roses’, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, presented by the Abu Dhabi Music & Art
Foundation in association with October Gallery, London, UK
2010 ‘Ecstatic Flow’, October Gallery, London, UK
2010 Rachid Koraichi: ‘Les Sept dormants’ (The seven dormants), Espace Riquet, Béziers, France
2010 ‘Bouqala: Chants des femmes d’Alger’ (Hymns of women from Algiers), 49 original lithographies by Rachid Koraïchi (ink and mixed techniques), Médiathèque, Aubenas, France
2009 ‘A Nation in Exile’: engravings by Rachid Koraïchi and calligraphies by Hassan Massoudy and Kamel Ibrahim illustrating texts by Mahmoud Darwich, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Algiers, Algeria & at the Institute of Islamic Cultures, Paris, France
2008 ‘The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End’, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2008 ‘Les ancêtres lies aux étoiles’ (An Ancestry linked to the stars), Chapelle St. Martin du Méjan, Arles, France
2008 ‘Word Into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East’, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai, UAE
2006 ‘Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East’, British Museum, London, UK
2006 ‘Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking’, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
2005 ‘Rachid Koraichi: Ancestral Memories’, October Gallery, London, UK
2002 ‘Path of Roses / Beirut’s Poem / A Nation in Exile’, The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York,USA
2001 ‘Path of Roses’, French Institute of Casablanca and Marrakech, Morocco
2000 L’Enfant Jazz, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2000 Meeting in Casablanca with Moroccan artist Farid Belkahia, Galerie El Manar, Tunisia
1999 Galerie Isma – French Embassy in Alger, Algeria
1999 L’Enfant Jazz, Galerie du Passage, Marseille, France
1999 Autour des voyages de Delacroix et Matisse, Residency in Marrakech, Morocco
1999 Jardins Secrets III, Manufacture des Œillets, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
1999 Ô Fleurs, A tribute to Al Attar, International Garden Festival, Chaumont sur Loire, France
1999 ‘Path of Roses, A tribute to Rûmî’, Residency in Anatolia, Turkey
1999 Commissioned carpet for Galerie Janos, Paris, France
1998 Lettres d’Argiles: A tribute to Ibn Arabi, Espace Gard, Nîmes, France / Darat al Funun, Amman,
Jordan / Medersa Mustansirya, Bagdad, Iraq / French Cultural Center, Damas, Syria / Ribat of
Sousse – French Cultural Center, Tunisia Jardin du Paradis, International Garden festival / Chaumont sur Loire, France
1998 ‘Koraïchi’, Leighton House Museum, London, UK
1997 Meditations, Medersa Ibn Youssef / Marrakech, Morocco
1997 L’Enfant Jazz, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
1996 Mural of steel, Hommage à Okba, University of Kairouan, Tunisia
1995 Lettres d’Argiles, Résidence - Atelier du Chêne vert, Anduze, France - Atelier Galtié et Buthod
Garçon, St Quentin la Poterie, France
1995 Koraichi, Fondation Shoman, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
1996 Mural de céramique, Ecole Robert Desnos, Tunis, Tunisia
1996 ‘A Nation in Exile’, Fondation Shoman - Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan, and in Norway
1995 ‘Installation Haus der Kulturen der Welt’, Berlin, Germany
1995 ‘Talisman’ , Mur Fontaine Palm-Beach / Tozeur, Tunisia / Atelier Sakal, Djerba, Tunisia / French Institute, Barcelona, Spain
SELECTION OF GROUP SHOWS
2016 Marrakech Biennale, Morocco
2015 ‘Nel Mezzo del Mezzo’, Museo Riso, Regional Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Palermo, Sicily, Italy 2015 ‘International Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition’, Wafi Mall, Dubai, UAE
2015 ‘Expanding Africa at the Newark Museum: New Visions, New Galleries’, Newark Museum, New York, USA
2014 ‘The Global Africa Project: Political Patterns’, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Abu Dhabi Art, October Gallery and Galerie El Marsa, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2014 Biennale Internationale de Casablanca, Morocco
2014 ‘ArteVida’, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2014 ‘35 Years of the Transvangarde: Contemporary art from around the planet’, October Gallery, London, UK
2014 ‘Art14’, October Gallery, London, UK
2013 Dieu(x); Modes d'emploi (God(s) ; instructions)– Rachid Koraïchi is presenting his installation «Tumanques même à mon ombre (Me and my shadow miss you) » inspired by the 99 names of Allah - Le Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la
ville de Paris, France
2012 ‘Systems and Patterns’, The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) Ljubljana, Slovenia
2012 ‘Written Images: Contemporary Calligraphy from the Middle East’, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2012 Jameel Prize : Art contemporain d’inspiration islamique, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2012 Exposición Jameel Prize 2011, Casa Árabe, Madrid, Spain
2011 Written Images: Contemporary Calligraphy from the Middle East, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, USA
2011 Jameel Prize 2011, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
2011 ‘Untitled’, Elmarsa Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia
2011 ‘Miragens: Arte Contemporânea no Mundo Islâmico’, Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural, Brasilia, Brazil
2011 ‘Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art’, Mathaf - the Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2010/11 ‘The Future of Tradition - The Tradition of Future: 100 Years After the Exhibition ’Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art’ in Munich’, Haus der Kunst, München, Germany
2010 Figures de la Méditerranée (Mediterrannean faces) by Hervé Di Rosa and Rachid Koraichi, French Institute of Cracow, Poland
2009 ‘Views & Perspectives in North African Art’, Elmarsa Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia
2008 Grey Gallery, New York, USA
2008 ‘Words into Art’, British Museum, Dubai, UAE
2008 Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
2008 Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
2007 ‘Words into Art’, British Museum, London, UK
2006 Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
2001 ‘Unpacking Europe’, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2001 ‘Authentic/Excentric’, 49e Biennale of Venice, Italy
2001 ‘L’Estampe arabe contemporaine’, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2001 ‘The Short Century, Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa (1945 – 1994)’, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich / Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany / Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA / P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art, New-York, USA
1999 Peintres du signe, Castel of Belval, Mirarnas, Pacaembù Sao Paolo, Brazil
1999 Global Conceptualism, Points of Origin (1950 – 1980), Queen Museum of Art, Queens, USA
1998 Mediterranea, Art of the world, botanical garden, Brussels, Belgium
1998 Modernities and Memories, Fondation Rockefeller, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
1998 Peintres du signe, La Courneuve; Château de Draveil, Draveil, France
1997 Memories and Modernities, Fondation Rockefeller, 47e Biennale, Venice, Italy – 6e Biennale of Havanna, Cuba
1997 Artists for Peace, with the painter F. Belkahia, Espace Louis Feuillade, Lunel, Paris, France
1996 L’Arco Da Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1996 Arabish Tekens, Museum Voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1996 Images of Africa Festival, Barbican Center, London, UK
1996 Images of Africa Festival, Odense, Denmark
1996 Art Contemporain, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
1996 ‘Biennale Internacional de Poesia Visual’, Palacio Legislativo, Mexico
1996 ‘Rhythm and Form’, Hallie Brown Gallery AT, USA / Willamette University in Salem,USA / University of Oregon, USA / University of Arkansas, USA / Rice University, USA / University of Berkeley, USA
1995 ‘Rencontres Africaines’, Centre Culturel Français, Lisbon, Portugal / Centre Culturel Français, Nyamey, Niger / Centre Culturel Français, Cotonou, République du Bénin, Africa.
