THE LYCEUM

Lalla Essaydi

Lalla Essadyi is a Moroccan photographer and artist known for her feminist portraits.

Essaydi grew up in Morocco, but she currently lives in the United States. Here, she explores her complex identities.

Why “identities”? To Essaydi, it’s important to think of identity as a state of being many things at once. Refusing to restrict yourself to “one thing” creates a more complex lens on the world.

It follows that Essaydi is an extraordinarily complex individual. She is a woman, an Arab, an African, and a Muslim. She has lived in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, France, and the United States. Rather than ignore this variety, she uses it to confront the controversies of girlhood, oppression, Orientalism, and the uncertainty of past and present. Her work inspires viewers, especially women, to defy stereotypes and resist repression.

An anonymous Lyceum contributor stated: “Lalla Essaydi attacks the degading treatment Moroccan women often face in their country. She is politically subversive when she is necessary, and that is powerful for us.”

Essaydi herself stated: “In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses – as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim.  In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes.“

Many of Essaydi’s works combine henna, a unique tattooing style used to decorate brides, with Arabic calligraphy, Moroccan mosaic and tile patterns, and Islamic architecture. However, Essaydi is also learning to step outside of these familiar elements. As she continues to freely realize her work in the United States, who knows what elements she will incorporate next?

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Selected Works
  • Bullets Revisited #3 (2012): Part of the larger Bullets series, this woman appears opulent and beautiful, but bullet casings are scattered throughout the piece. The piece manifests concern for women after the Arab Spring uprisings: “Women have been at the forefront of the uprisings…and as soon as these new regimes took hold, women were subordinated anew.”
  • Les Femmes Du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque (2008): This parody of the infamous La Grande Odalisque dispels its Orientalist origin with a more complex look at the female in the Muslim world, written in Arabic henna script.
  • Conflicted Identities #5 (2023): Part of the larger Conflicted Identities series, this portrait contrasts European dress and the language of portraiture with contemporary Arab identity.
Lalla Essaydi speaks about Harem Revisited #31 (2012), courtesy of Fairfield University.

Discussion Questions

  1. Compare Essaydi’s Les Femmes du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque to Ingres’ original La Grande Odalisque.
    • Start at the visual level. How do the two works parallel each other? How are they different?
    • Afterward, look into the history of both works. What does La Grande Odalisque say about French people’s views of the Middle East at the time of its creation? How about Les Femmes du Maroc?
    • What might be Essaydi’s intention have been as she parodied Ingres’ French work?
  2. How do Essaydi’s multiple identities manifest in her artwork?
  3. Think about your own identities. How do they manifest in you, whether you are an artist or not?
This artist was submitted by an anonymous student at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.

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