The cartoonist Rouchdi Mounsari has a great love for academic observation drawing. Through his drawings and sketches, he gives his point of view on the street life in Brussels.

The path that led him to drawing started long before his entrance exam to the Academy of Fine Arts of Morocco. Once admitted to the academy, he thought he could prove and develop his talent. Despite his skills and good results, he was not able to continue in the art world or obtain a certificate. This was due to the corruption in the Moroccan higher education system: a jury could make it impossible for a student to pass if he was not willing to pay the jury or if he was in a difficult financial situation. This experience convinced Rouchdi that “poor people cannot and should not be artists”.

After his arrival in Belgium and the irrepressible desire to be creative in a collective context, he discovered Globe Aroma. The organization allowed him to rethink his vision of the world.

His love for academic drawing remains strong, and he applies the techniques he learned to insightfully translate structural social inequalities into images and text. Frequent subjects are the homeless and the social dynamics he observes in public space.

Remarkably, he does not depend solely on a realist style, but truly draws on his historical background. He mixes visual elements from different movements and also integrates text into his visual work. Sometimes he chooses to develop a subject in a particular style, such as cubism or futurism.

Although his work is currently more of a sketch and small scale, it is reminiscent of preliminary sketches for murals, which the artist himself admits would also be ideal.

In the meantime, in anticipation of his dream of working on a larger scale, he attempts to maintain his technical skills in the Globe Aroma studio in the form of studies in calligraphy and anatomy. These studies function as stand-alone works, but Rouchdi is resolutely ready for any creative intervention.

This text was created during a conversation between Rouchdi Mounsari and Timur Zakharchev, which took place in 2022.