Hommage to Regraguia Benhila

Regraguia Benhila

Regraguia Benhila is an artist Essaouiri woman who managed to engrave her name in the world of art. She was born in 1940, and because she was the daughter of a fisherman, she came with her mother and grandmother very close to the Atlantic, to wash sheep hides. For a living, they used to spin the wool they extracted or make carpets.
On the way back home from work, she admired with passion the art galleries. Her love of the brush started to bud since she was a child; a love that grew day after day to become stronger than herself. When she was forty six, she decided and for the first time to visit a gallery, and come face to face with hand-made paintings.
Her patience, courage, and love for colours have paved the way for her to become an accomplished painter. Her deep desire to break up with the old traditions and her long-held frustration have shaped her career as a woman artist: " It is the direction of your look that influences the destination of the boat no matter how violent the waves and storms are " These are the words that translate Regraguia's philosophy and her unlimited will to enter the world of art.
Her numerous canvases, exhibited both in Morocco and abroad, celebrate the joy and love of life, and unravel the secrets of women. They describe the woman in all her states of enjoyment and merriment.
The year 2007 was special for Mrs Regraguia BENHILA as his majesty Mohamed VI officially decorated her with a Wissam (a first-rate national merit badge) in recognition for her passion for the art of painting in general, and for her contributions to the development of art in Essaouira in particular.