Karim Boumjimar: Rites of Affection

Karim Boumjimar’s (b. 1998, Spain) solo exhibition brings together a striking selection of ceramic sculptures and large-scale drawings that pulse with ritualistic and sensual intensity. Completing the show is a lyrical video piece premiering at Malva.

Boumjimar’s practice delves into what it means to be human: the social boundaries and hierarchies that shape us, the experiences of marginalised communities, and possible forms of coexistence between humans and nature. His works unleash a wild, unapologetically expressive menagerie of feminine, masculine, and animalistic figures.

This exhibition brings the ancient and the contemporary into dialogue. Working with clay – one of humanity’s oldest artistic materials, carrying myths and stories that span millennia – Boumjimar uses this time-honoured medium to probe the realities of contemporary existence. In an age dominated by digitality, their ceramics restore to art the immediacy of touch, palpable movement, and the raw essence of material. Boumjimar reminds us that we, too, are made of clay: malleable and continually reshaped.

Karim Boumjimar studied art in the UK and Denmark, and has recently exhibited in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Spain, and across Europe. Their works are held in the collections of the Pori Art Museum, the Miettinen Collection, and the Fondazione Fiera Milano Miettinen Collection.