BOLOGNA.- Fondazione MAST hosts the largest solo exhibition in Italy of Franco-Algerian artist Mohamed Bourouissa, titled Communauté—Projets 2005–2025. The exhibition includes four series of works, one of which is presented for the very first time on this occasion, that showcase his artistic career from the early days to today.
Bourouissa’s work explores the complex relationship between the individual and society, highlighting the many roles that each plays, as an individual, as a member of community, and as part of a broader collective. His research weaves constantly between the personal and the collective, the individual narratives and broader historical and social themes. Through this approach, Bourouissa offers an analysis of contemporary civilization, where personal relations emerge within an increasingly fragile social context, including themes such as the city, migration, labor and the ways they are represented.
The four series
Péripherique (2005–2008) is the series through which Bourouissa’s work gained global recognition. In these images, referencing the canons of painting, the artist stages scenes of great danger and tension, using friends and acquaintances as non-professional actors. Taken just after the 2005 riots in the French banlieues, these photographs give visibility to those usually excluded from history.
Horse Day (2013–2017) is another significant series that documents social stables in a Philadelphia suburb, founded by members of the local African-American community. Here, Bourouissa deconstructs cowboy imagery, long excluded from American equestrian culture due to biases perpetuated by Hollywood cinema and the myth of the Wild West. Composed of works in multiple media, Horse Day comprises photographic sculptures created by printing images of the stables and their people on car body parts, blending the practice of dressing-up horses with customizing cars and pick-up trucks. At the heart of the exhibition are works that reflect Bourouissa’s deep interest in blending diverse disciplines and media. Positioned throughout the space, these pieces highlight the pivotal role of the technical-industrial framework in contemporary society—an approach that resonates strongly with the core mission of Fondazione MAST.
To create Shoplifters (2014), Bourouissa reproduced a series of photographs that he saw displayed at the entrance of a Brooklyn supermarket in 2014. Taken by the store manager as an accusation, the images show the faces of those caught shoplifting, posed with the stolen item. The artist transforms these images, using the trivial nature of the stolen goods (detergents, biscuits, eggs, cheese, fruit, canned food, soft drinks and alcohol) to absolve all the individuals, while denouncing the consumerist poverty of society.
HANDS (2025) is Bourouissa’s latest project, presented for the first time to the public at Fondazione MAST. Inspired by a quote of Antonin Artaud: “La grille est un moment terrible pour la sensibilité, la matière” (The grid is a terrible moment for sensitivity, for matter), HANDS comprises images taken from earlier series, reprinted on plexiglass and mounted against a metal grid. In keeping with his signature approach, Bourouissa revisits and reconfigures fragments of previous photographs, in a constant process of revision that challenges their uniqueness in favor of an obsessive drive for transformation. The hands and gestures in these images overlap the grids, symbol of control and coercion, creating a powerful sense of tension.
Through iconic and new works, photographs, films and objects made with industrial materials, Communauté not only journeys through the past two decades of Bourouissa’s career, but also investigates the transformation of photography in today’s world, revealing the complex relationships between individuals and society in an era of profound change.
Fondazione MAST (Manifattura di Arti, Sperimentazione e Tecnologia) is an international non-profit organisation founded in Bologna in 2013. Located next to the headquarters of the Coesia industrial group, in a multifunctional complex conceived as an intermediary between the company and the community, MAST is an open place of sharing and collaboration where every citizen has access to learning, the arts and photography. The exhibition spaces host temporary shows dedicated to photographs of industry and work.
