Mahi Binebine
Mahi Binebine (born 1959) is a Moroccan painter and novelist. Binebine has written twelve novels which have been translated into various languages.
Mahi Binebine

Africtice · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Mahi Binebine
- Born
- 1959
- Birthplace
- Marrakesh, Morocco
- Field
- Writing, painting
- Nationality
- Morocco
- Occupation
- painter · sculptor · writer · artist
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Mahi Binebine (born 1959) is a Moroccan painter and novelist. Binebine has written twelve novels which have been translated into various languages.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Mahi Binebine. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q3277719 · wikipedia · Mahi Binebine
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mahi Binebine • Native Name — ماحي بنيبين • Born — 1959 • Birthplace — Marrakesh, Morocco • Field — Writing, painting
Career
Career
Born in 1959 in Marrakesh, 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 Marrakesh 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
Novels
• Le sommeil de l'esclave, Ed. Stock 1992, • Les funérailles du lait, Ed. Stock 1994, • L'ombre du poète, Ed. Stock 1997, • Pollens, Ed. Fayard 2001, • Terre d'ombres brulée, 1997 Ed. Fayard, • Cannibales, Ed. Fayard 1999, Ed. L'Aube, (English translation Welcome to Paradise) • Le griot de Marrakech, 2005 Ed. L'Aube, • Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen, Ed. Flammarion 2010 (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, • Le fou du Roi, Ed. Stock 2017,
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
• 2017 Galerie Abla Ababou, Rabat • 2017 Art Paris (Grand Palais) • 2017 Galerie DX • 2017 Rétrospective – Galerie Claude Lemand • 2016 Musée MACMA, Marrakesh • 2015 Insoumission • 2015 Forum international des droits de L'Homme • 2015 Musée de la Palmeraie, Marrakesh • 2014 Musée de la Palmeraie, Marrakesh • 2013 Galerie Document 15, Paris • 2012 Galerie 38, Casablanca • 2012 Galerie Benamou, Paris • 2011 Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin • 2011 Galerie Loft (Expo à six mains avec Mourabiti et Yamou), Casablanca • 2010 Galerie Atelier 21 (Casablanca) • 2010 AAART Foundation, Kitzbühel, Austria • 2009 53ème Biennale de Venise Venice Biennale • 2009 AAART Foundation - Autriche • 2009 Galerie CMOOA, Rabat • 2009 Galerie Delacroix, Tanger • 2008 Galerie Atelier 21 - Casablanca • 2008 Galerie Violon Bleu - Londres • 2008 Galerie Navarra - 75 Faubourg, Paris • 2008 Galerie Loft, Paris • 2008 Galerie Bailly, Paris • 2008 Foundation FAAP, São Paulo • 2007 Siège Société Générale Morocco, Casablanca • 2007 Galerie Nationale Bab Rouah, Rabat • 2007 Galerie Noir sur blanc, Marrakesh • 2007 Palais des Congrès, Grasse (France) • 2007 Le Lazaret Olandini, Ajaccio (Avec Yamou) • 2006 Kasbah Agafay, Marrakesh • 2006 Galerie Venise Cadre, Casablanca • 2006 Galerie les Atlassides, Marrakesh • 2005 Galerie Venise-Cadre, Casablanca • 2005 Galerie Atlassides, Marrakesh • 2005 Musée Archéologique de Silves (Portugal) • 2005 Eglise de la Miséricorde, Silves (Portugal) • 2005 Gemap, Casablanca • 2004 Arte Invest, Rome • 2004 Festival Arte Mare Bastia (corse) • 2004 Bellas Artes, Madrid • 2004 Galerie Atalante, Madrid • 2004 Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Cologne • 2003 Espace Actua, Casablanca (avec Yamou) • 2003 Galerie Bab el kebir, Rabat (avec Selfati) • 2003 Galerie AAM, Rome • 2003 Studio Bocchi, Rome • 2003 Fundacione Maturen, Tarazona. • 2003 Galerie Baskoa, Barcelonne. • 2003 Kunst Köln, Galerie Brigitte Schenk • 2002 Galerie Dahiez & Associés, Zurich • 2002 Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Cologne • 2002 Musée de Marrakech • 2002 Société Générale Marocaine, Casablanca • 2002 Institut Cervantes, Tanger • 2002 Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Kunst Köln • 2002 Ministère de la culture, Abu Dhabi • 2001 Tinglado 4 Moll de Costa, Taragone • 2001 Palais des congrès, Grasse. • 2000 Espace Paul Ricard, Paris • 2000 Galerie El Manar, Casablanca • 1999 Galerie Stendhal, New York • 1999 Galerie du Fleuve, Paris • 1999 Galerie Brigitte Shenk, Cologne • 1998 Galerie Ott, Düsseldorf • 1998 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
Identity
Identity
Mahi Binebine is recorded as painter, sculptor, writer and artist.

Mahi Binebine (Photo ©Laurent Moulager - hipstoresk.com 2017)
Laurent Moulager
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1959–2004
The full dated record · 8 entries
1959
Mahi Binebine born at Marrakech.
1990
Les funérailles du lait is dated 1990.
1992
Le sommeil de l'esclave is dated 1992.
1994
Les funerailles du lait is dated 1994.
1997
L' ombre du poète is dated 1997.
1999
Cannibales is dated 1999.
2001
Pollens is dated 2001.
2004
Terre d'ombre brûlée is dated 2004.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3277719: Mahi Binebine
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Mahi Binebine”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Introduction: L'Univers interartistique de Mahi Binebine : entre littérature et arts, Expressions maghrébines, 2026
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2026
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Introduction: L'Univers interartistique de Mahi Binebine : entre littérature et arts, Expressions maghrébines, 2026Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Sculpture
6,174 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Magdalene KreßnerArtist
- Maggi HamblingArtist
- Maggy SteinArtist
- Magnus BergArtist
- Mahmoud JalalArtist
- Mahmoud MokhtarArtist
- Mahonri YoungArtist
- Mai-Thu PerretArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Mahi Binebine?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.