An extraordinary mechanical installation that brings 192 flip-flops and slippers to life in an original “ballet-symphony-revolt” is the centerpiece of the exhibition ‘For my best family’ by Moroccan artist Meriem Bennani, opening on October 31 at Fondazione Prada in Milan. This project represents Bennani’s most complex and ambitious initiative, both for the variety of the works and for the duration of the creative process, which required over two years of work. The artist created a site-specific installation entitled ‘Sole crushing’ and an art film, ‘For Aicha’, co-directed with Orian Barki, with whom he forms the duo Two Lizards. The film is set between New York, Rabat and Casablanca and takes place in a universe inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, mixing elements of realism, autobiography and fiction. The narration combines documentary techniques with three-dimensional animation. Both works investigate the dynamics of coexistence in socio-political contexts, representing them in both a public and intimate dimension.

“One of the main themes of ‘For my best family’ is the art of being together,” explains the artist. “It asks where a person begins and ends.” In the film, the focus is on a mother and her daughter learning to relate to each other. In contrast, in the installation the concept becomes more abstract and embraces the community in a broader sense, staging non-verbal moments of encounter. Here, a force emerges that takes the form of a polymorphous body: like a puppet, the multitude transforms into a single entity, a single voice or a single way of acting. In these moments, everyone knows exactly how to behave at the right moment, both rhythmically and vocally; for example, understanding how to use their body to tap their feet in time.

This exhibition promises to be an engaging and innovative experience, inviting visitors to reflect on interpersonal relationships through a unique and provocative artistic language.