The Works of Baya Mahieddine at the Grand Mosque of Paris
The works of the renowned painter Baya Mahieddine are presented at the Grand Mosque of Paris as part of the exhibition “And Everything Becomes Color”, on view from December 13, 2025 to January 12, 2026. A group of “still lifes full of life” invites visitors to rediscover the genius of one of the most important figures in Algerian contemporary art.
At the heart of the Grand Mosque of Paris, facing the Andalusian gardens that attract hundreds of visitors every day, another oasis emerges from the Emir Abdelkader Hall. An oasis made of gouaches from which flowers, animals, and plants burst forth in abundance. Around fifteen still lifes are presented, striking in their vitality, movement, and color — the unmistakable signature of one of the great monuments of Algerian contemporary art: Baya.
“These still lifes, I prefer to call them living natures, because in Baya Mahieddine’s work the color, the frontal compositions, and the absence of naturalistic perspective give the objects an almost animated presence, breaking with the idea of a fixed genre,” explains exhibition curator Yasmine Azzi-Kohlhepp.
The paintings were inaugurated on Friday, December 12, 2025, during the opening of the exhibition “And Everything Becomes Color: The Still Lifes of Baya Mahieddine.” The artist, who passed away in 1998 in Blida, would have celebrated her 94th birthday on that day.
“This is our gift to her. Her entire family is convinced that she would have loved to see her works here,” Yasmine Azzi-Kohlhepp says with a smile.
“We are very proud of this tribute, to see these works exhibited here… She is still among us through these colors,” adds Souad Mahieddine, the artist’s granddaughter.
The opening was also an opportunity to present the exhibition catalogue Until all is Color, written by Dr. Dalila Azzi and published by Les Éditions du Crieur Public. The book is available in bookstores, including at the bookshop of the Grand Mosque of Paris.
Baya, “the princess among the barbarians”
“A self-taught genius,” “an artist beyond categories,” “paintings that defy conventions,” “colors that sing Algeria”… Visitors who filled the Grand Mosque of Paris that day found no shortage of superlatives to describe the work of this remarkable artist.
Yet the woman who left such a powerful mark on her time (1931–1998) through both her art and her elusive personality was, according to American historian Alice Kaplan, “as admired as she was misunderstood in France.”
Often categorized as a surrealist artist, “Baya is in fact impossible to classify,” explains Yasmine Azzi-Kohlhepp. “She is autonomous, and her visual language is entirely her own. She was exhibited at a very young age in a context where the surrealists showed interest in her work, but her practice does not belong to that movement. She developed a singular pictorial language, independent of any school.”
“Albert Camus once said, ‘Baya is the princess among the barbarians,’ referring to all those Europeans as barbarians,” recalls Alice Kaplan.
More than a painter with a unique brush, Baya Mahieddine (born Fatma Haddad) is also, Kaplan notes, “the incredible story of a young orphan who seemed to come from nowhere,” and who, at the age of sixteen, established herself within the Parisian art world.
“But she was never corrupted by the Parisian art circles that celebrated her,” the historian explains. “She always maintained her own vision, her own style, and that is precisely what we see in her work — that unexpected quality.” Kaplan is also Professor of French Literature at Yale University.
“These are paintings that bring great consolation… I even feel that these colors can heal the world,” she adds with a smile. Kaplan is the author of Baya ou le grand vernissage (Le Bruit du Monde, May 2024).
A vibrant setting
An explosion of vivid colors is showcased within an equally vibrant architectural setting, defined by chandeliers and walls adorned with zellige tiles.
“The curatorial choice was to create an intimate atmosphere while also establishing a resonance with the garden of the mosque facing the exhibition space,” explains the curator.
The Emir Abdelkader Hall, far removed from the traditional “white cube” — the neutral exhibition space typical of museums around the world — offers instead a setting that enhances the sensory and symbolic resonance of Baya’s works.
1947: the encounter that marked Baya’s beginnings
The exhibition also serves as a subtle reminder of the first meeting between Si-Kaddour Ben Ghabrit, the founding rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, and Baya Mahieddine, nearly eighty years ago.
This encounter took place during the artist’s very first exhibition in 1947, when she was only sixteen years old.
“I want to show that Baya’s works resonate with the Grand Mosque of Paris — with our architecture, our aesthetic,” says the mosque’s rector Chems-Eddine Hafiz.
“This aesthetic quest is in fact also a path inspired by our Creator. It is one of the characteristics of our religion.”
“But I see myself as very small within this story,” he concludes, under the attentive gaze of the portraits of Emir Abdelkader and Si-Kaddour Ben Ghabrit, two paintings that proudly watch over the space.
