Men in djellaba intent on cooking a typical meal with the traditional tajine, the colourful stalls of the Suq, the warm light of northern Morocco: these are the subjects we find in Myriam au citron‘s illustrations. 

Myriam au citron, stage name of Anaëlle Myriam Chaaib, is a young French-Moroccan artist. Born in France to a Moroccan father and a French mother, the illustrator spent her adolescence discovering Morocco during the summer holidays and above all through the typical dishes cooked by her father. It was her love of Moroccan cuisine that led Myriam to move to Tangier in 2016 where, together with her sister, she opened a restaurant. 

Myriam has always had a passion for drawing, but has never found the time to devote herself to it consistently. The opportunity came last March when, due to the pandemic and regulations in Morocco, she was forced to close the restaurant.
In order not to waste all those days spent at home, Myriam started painting and drawing again and shortly afterwards decided to open an Instagram profile. The name Myriam au citron came about almost spontaneously; it is a recipe for her style made up of a balance between France and Morocco. 

The artist uses her work to show all the sides she loves most about her country, paying particular attention to the environments. We enter kitchens and rooms where traditional tiles with floral motifs dominate, where people show off their traditional clothes and where, of course, there is always a typical dish ready to be enjoyed in company. 

We have selected just a few of her illustrations, but to find out more follow Myriam au citron on Instagram and visit her website.