Untitled, 1970, by Moroccan artist Latifa Toujani is a profound reflection on themes of resistance, solidarity, and endurance. It features two faceless figures locked in an embrace, their raised hands forming the “V” sign – an enduring symbol of victory and defiance. The two figures merge, seemingly emphasizing unity in the face of oppression. Toujani has painted the figures in pink against a striking omnipresent red background. The pink, which evokes the color of flesh, and red, the color of blood, intensify the picture’s dramatic and emotional impact. Moreover, the color red symbolizes revolution, sacrifice, and endurance, while pink introduces a layer of vulnerability and tenderness. By reducing the figures’ details and facial features into flat graphical representations, Toujani erases the figures’ ethnic and gender markers. The artist usually resists individualization, ensuring that her figures embody collective struggles rather than specific people. The two symbolic visual elements, the victory sign and obscure, intertwined human-like figures reinforce notions of resilience and disappearance. 

Born in Morocco in 1948, Latifa Toujani is a multidisciplinary artist and a key figure in contemporary Moroccan art, known for her deep engagement with human rights and the role of women in society. She attributes her artistic inclinations and character to her mother, who instilled in her a passion for freedom and the arts, guiding her towards sports, music, literature, and cultural engagement from an early age. As an artist, curator, and cultural leader, Toujani dedicated herself to advancing education and human rights, particularly advocating for women's rights in Morocco. She frequently collaborated with feminist intellectual Fatima Mernissi, who nicknamed her "Scheherazade Al-Horra" (Free Scheherazade), and together they authored a manifesto promoting women's rights. Toujani's participation in major pan-Arab cultural events, including the 1st Arab Biennial in Baghdad (1974) and a 1975 exhibition in solidarity with Palestine, positioned her at the intersection of art and activism. Her works often depict representations of political struggle through metaphorical and emotive compositions. 

Untitled, 1970 expresses Toujani’s activism through the defiance of the subjects within this human-scale piece. While this work highlights her support of the Palestinian struggle, the universality of the figures and their resistance can be understood in relation to all authoritarian regimes, but especially Morocco’s Years of Lead (1970-1999) – a period of state repression and human rights abuses under King Hassan II’s rule. Moroccan women played a critical yet often unrecognized role in political movements and protests, often by supporting activism from the margins while experiencing its indirect but painful consequences. Political repression during this period largely targeted male activists, while women dealt with and endured their absence and trauma. It illustrates the division that assigned men to public, political spaces while relegating women to the realm of emotional endurance and domestic resilience. 

By depicting figures in an intimate embrace, Toujani withdraws from direct political imagery and instead focuses on the psychological toll of struggle. The embrace is modest, tender, and protective, yet the raised hands still signal defiance. The tension between strength and vulnerability, defiance and exhaustion, is central to the piece. The expressive brushwork and textured surface add to its raw power, making the viewer feel the immediacy of the struggle Toujani captures.