A bike with 21 satellite dishes struggles through a desert: Hiba Baddou’s best photograph

‘The Peugeot 103 is iconic in Morocco: a symbol of social mobility. But my rider, a living sculpture, is so overstimulated he can’t choose which way to go – and ends up going nowhere’

This image, Parabomobile, shows a living sculpture I created. A man is riding through the desert on a road near Marrakech that is still partly under construction. He rides a Peugeot 103 motorcycle and carries 21 satellite dishes – each pointing in a different direction. But the person driving the motorbike is so overstimulated, he cannot choose which way to go – and ends up going nowhere.

It is part of a wider multidisciplinary project, Paraboles, that is an inquiry into Moroccan people’s identity, our imagination and the way we see the world. It can feel to Moroccans – and those in other postcolonial countries – that their minds have been colonised as well as their land.

I grew up in Rabat, in a diplomatic family. My grandpa had a key role in the French Protectorate (1912-56). I attended a French school where everything we learned was European. Back then there were not many good universities in Morocco, and we always knew we would go to study abroad. I lived in Paris for 10 years, and it made me realise a lot of things about Morocco that I didn’t see when I was living there.

When I returned and started looking around my country, I saw satellite dishes everywhere. These objects crystallised something about this past century, and I decided to use the satellite to create a whole fiction, a Hertzian Republic – named after the hertz, the unit of frequency of radio waves. In this republic, people in exile go in search of a better future, but that hope is a mirage.

The project includes texts, installations and a short film in which we see people going on a pilgrimage to places they have seen on their screens. I also created goat-skin passports – goat skin is a material with a special significance in nomadic cultures in Morocco. The passport closes when the material is cold and opens when it’s hot. I even invented a language related to the 72-megahertz waves sent from satellites in Morocco, with 72 corresponding letters: my own sacred book with its own code. And I thought I should also create transportation for my imaginary republic.

The Peugeot 103 motorcycle is iconic in Morocco. In the 1990s, it became a symbol of modern Morocco and social mobility. I decided to use one from that decade, which is when my fictional narrative takes place, and I transformed it with the satellite dishes. This image and this project were a way to remind us of the things we forget to see; how we don’t always want to see what’s happening in the present.

I returned to Morocco a year ago. The country is moving so fast – it’s inspiring. It is a fascinating place. It is very unified, although some people in the north might speak Spanish but not a word of French, and we speak different dialects of Amazigh and Darija. The cultures are so different but at the same time, we feel close to each other, we feel like a nation. Language is a big part of my questioning as an artist: the way words carry concepts and make us think differently. In Darija, you never miss a train – the train leaves you behind. When you’re ill, it’s the cold that hit you.

My truth is in between two cultures: French and Moroccan. The questions that most interest me stem from this. How we shape ourselves with our beliefs, and what gives us a sense of direction in life. It is one of the most mystical things about being human.

Hiba Baddou’s CV

Born: Rabat, Morocco
High point: The Dakar Biennale in 2024 and winning the Saatchi Art for Change prize in the same year was a major moment of recognition; it made me believe this work could go wider and speak to people of different cultures. Also my recent solo show at the Macaal in Marrakech – my biggest institutional exhibition to date
Top tip: Keep your eyes open all the time

• See more at hibabaddou.com