Latifa Toujani, born in 1948, in Fez, Morocco, is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, lithography, photography, installation, and curatorial work. Active primarily between the 1970s and early 2000s, her oeuvre reflects a deep engagement with themes of resistance, identity, and women's rights within the Arab world. Much of her artistic production coincided with the post-independence period in Morocco (1960s-1980s), a time marked by cultural awakening, political questioning, and rising feminist movements.
Toujani’s work during the 1970s was deeply rooted in feminist discourse, and her collaboration with writer and sociologist Fatima Mernissi formed part of a broader artistic commitment to interrogating the roles of women in both public and private life. Through this partnership, Toujani extended her visual practice into the realm of social critique, intertwining art with feminist theory to challenge dominant narratives and redefine the representation of women in Moroccan society.
Her participation in the 1st Arab Biennial in Baghdad, in 1974, and a major pan-Arab art event in solidarity with Palestine underscored her alignment with regional political causes and her commitment to art as a form of protest and advocacy. In 1979, she unveiled the solo exhibition Maqamat Latifa at the Bab Rouah National Gallery in Rabat, a landmark moment in her career that solidified her reputation in Morocco’s contemporary art scene.
Toujani’s work was recently reintroduced to international audiences in Moroccan Trilogy 1950-2020, held at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid in 2021, reflecting a renewed interest in her legacy and the role of women artists in shaping postcolonial North African art histories.