Mohamed Bourouissa

Mohamed Bourouissa’s practice traces and presents the complexity of socio-economic issues through his distinct creative vision. Often spending long periods of time in social groups or communities that he is inspired by, Bourouissa creates films that transcend the distinction between documentary and fiction. For his acclaimed work Horse Day (2014–15), the artist moved to a run-down area in Philadelphia, USA, to make, what he calls, his alternative to a cowboy movie, but eventually filming the life of local communities instead. Through film, rap, sound and photography, among other means of expression, the French-Algerian artist poses challenges to the simplicity with which mainstream and mass media portrays peripheries of societies. Bourouissa’s work is a poetic exploration of the complexity of life, striving to provide agency for those marginalised and excluded.