Babahoum paintings

WE JUST LOVE Babahoum.

Born in 1936 in El Henchane, a village in the countryside of Essaouira, Babahoum began painting at the age of 70 - having previously worked as a scrap dealer and brocanteur. In Essaouira’s hippy heyday, Babahoum hung around with Hendrix, Cat Stevens and the like; he was also one of the best storytellers in town - but he doesn’t talk about any of this.

“In the galaxy of Essaouira’s painters, Babahoum is a painter apart. His biro and watercolour illustrations on cardboard show life in the countryside, the realm of the animals and the supernatural world.

“He uses a flat surface to depict a 3-dimensional reality, which is also reflected in Matisse’s work and in Moroccan and Persian carpets.

“Babahoum is terribly interesting. He has a history…and this also has something scary about it. Those crazy weird animals with heads, it suggests a supernatural world.”

Abdelkader Ben Ali, writer and journalist