Galerie 127 (Photography Gallery)
Galerie 127 spent nearly two decades on the second floor of an Art Deco building on Avenue Mohamed V — up a spiral staircase, past an entrance that gave nothing away from street level, into 100 square metres of exposed brick and four-metre ceilings hung with contemporary photography. Over a hundred exhibitions passed through that space, and the gallery made it to Paris Photo and the 1:54 African Art Fair more than once.
As of July 2024, the physical gallery has closed and all operations moved online. The building remains; the staircase is still there if you walk the arcades on Mohamed V. But the walls are empty now.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who visited regularly mention the same thing: the surprise of the interior after such an ordinary entrance. You'd climb the spiral staircase expecting nothing in particular and arrive in a proper gallery — Nathalie Locatelli's eye evident in every hang. That contrast between the residential corridor and the space above it was half the experience.
How Galerie 127 (Photography Gallery) came to be
Nathalie Locatelli founded Galerie 127 in 2006, bringing a background in architectural work for Cartier boutiques to bear on a personal commitment to contemporary photography. The Gueliz location — second floor, Art Deco building, free admission — made it quietly accessible for nearly eighteen years, presenting photographers from across Africa and beyond.
In 2020, Locatelli opened a second space in Montreuil, outside Paris. Four years later, in July 2024, the Marrakech gallery transitioned entirely online, ending its run as one of the few dedicated photography spaces in the city.
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