Atef Matallah, Les Bâtisseurs, fresco on the facade of 32bis, 2022, source: lapresse.tn
di Roberta Marin [*]
The Tunisian art scene has changed after the social uprising of 2010-2011, when the second president, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (1936-2019) was forced to leave the country and find exile in Saudi Arabia. 2011 became the watershed for many young artists who were able to express themselves with greater freedom and managed to be recognized on the international scene, while remaining in their country of origin.
If in the years of Ben Ali’s presidency many artists felt the need to abandon their homeland and as a consequence became part of of the so-called diaspora, they now find fertile ground represented by new cultural centres, festivals and events, which allows them to meet not only fellow artists but also art professionals, potential buyers and ordinary people. Tunis has become the hub for artists, but smaller towns, already famous as art centres before the Arab Spring, such as Sidi Bou Saïd and La Marsa, continue to play an important role in promoting the work of emerging and established artists. New cultural centres and galleries have opened the doors in recent years and they continue to thrive. Located in the former Philipps’s headquarter in Tunisia, 32bis is a 43,000 square foot contemporary arts centre, which offers residencies to Tunisian and international artists and organises exhibitions (Guide: Tunisia’s Art Scene, 2023). The centre welcomes researcher and scholars from all over the world, who can make good use of the multimedia contemporary art library and attend the rich cultural programs, such as the Séances Jeunes Artistes (‘the Young artists sessions’) lecture series. The façade of the building is decorated with a fresco by famous artist Atef Matallah, entitled Les Bâtisseurs (‘the builders’) and inaugurated in 2022.
B7L9 Art Station, La Marsa, source: Arttribune.com
B7L9 Art Station is located in Bahr Lazrag, a rural area of La Marsa. It was launched by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation for Art and Culture in 2019 and is an experimental contemporary art space, with the mission of building a bridge between local and international artists, and engaging the public with a free of charge annual programme of artistic and cultural events. Among other initiatives, the KLF supports Artistes de Tunisie (‘Artists from Tunisia’), a publication dedicated to artists active from the 19th century to present, and organises three to four exhibitions each year.
Following in the footsteps of B7L9 art station, Yosr ben Ammar gallery inaugurated a new space in Bahr Lazrag in October 2022. This was only the latest step in a broader programme of promoting national and international modern and contemporary art, which began in 2005 when the Yosr ben Ammar gallery originally opened as Kanvas Art Gallery in Gammarth, not far from Tunis. Since 2015, street and urban arts have been also represented and have quickly become one of the gallery’s hallmarks, helping to maintain its connotation as an avant-garde space. In 2019 a new gallery was established also in Sousse.
A good number of galleries have opened in Sidi Bou Saïd, from Le Violon Bleu to Selma Feriani Gallery and A. Gorgi Contemporary Art Gallery. Le Violon Bleu was founded by the intellectual Essia Hamdi in 2003 (H. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, ‘Le Violon Bleu’, undated). She began her career in the art world as an antiquarian with her first gallery, Atyqa (‘Antique’). The meeting with Arman (1928-2005), one of the leaders of the Nouveau Réalisme (‘New Realist’) movement, was the trigger to develop a profound interest in modern and contemporary art and to dedicate her professional life to the promotion of Tunisian and international artists. Another crucial figure in the art scene is Selma Feriani, founder of the homonymous galleries in Sidi Bou Saïd and London, and daughter of Essia Hamdi (Brownell Mitic, ‘A Voice for Art from North Africa and the Middle East’, 2018). The mission of this young but very motivated gallery owner is to bring artists from Tunisia, the MENA region and Africa together with young international artists to the attention of the art market. Feriani is also committed to building a sense of community by offering residencies and free studio spaces to artists. The latest ongoing project, due to open at the end of 2023, involves the creation of a large space north of the capital where artists will have the opportunity to exhibit their works. The goal is to make this place into one of the most important exhibition spaces not only in Tunisia but on the entire African continent. Aicha Gorgi is the daughter of the famous Tunisian artist Abdelaziz Gorgi and one of the most established gallery owners in Tunisia. The gallery she runs was originally opened by her father, who named it after his lifetime friend and fellow artist Ammar Farhat. In 2010 she took it over, changed its name to the memory of her father, A. Gorgi Gallery Contemporary Art Gallery, and made it one of the most interesting spaces for emerging Tunisian artists (https://agorgi.com/galerie/).
Musée National d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Tunis MACAM, source: Wikimedia Commons
In addition to privately owned cultural centers and art galleries, an important public institution, such as the Musée National d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (MACAM Tunis, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), opened its doors in Tunis in 2018 at the City of Culture ‘Chedli Klibi’. Housed in a large building covering an area of 5,000 square meters, MACAM not only promotes all forms of plastic and visual arts in Tunisia and organizes national and international exhibitions, but carries out a programme of study, cataloguing, management and restoration of the works of art that make up the permanent collection. Attached to the museum there is also a research and documentation center on visual arts. (https://www.macam-tunis.tn/)
Soon after the end of the Jasmine Revolution, another famous public institution, the National Museum of Carthage opened in its east wing an exhibition of contemporary works, the first of this kind in its premises (Larkins, ‘Chkoun Ahna opens Tunisia’s Contemporary chapter’, 2012). The show entitled ‘Chkoun Ahna’ (a term that can mean both ‘who are we’ and ‘about us’) was organised by Timo Kaabi-Linke, a writer, philosopher and art critic, based in Berlin, and Khadija Hamdi-Soussi, an art advisor and independent curator. Tunisian, Arab, Turkish and international artists displayed their works next to each other, testifying how artists from different backgrounds and geographical areas can dialogue through the common language of art and how the Tunisian artistic and cultural scene has undertaken a new path and become in all respects a hotbed of new talents whose work is now recognized internationally (Downey, ‘Where to Now: Chkoun Ahna at the National Museum of Carthage, 20212). The exhibition ‘Chkoun Ahna’ inaugurated the JACC, Journées d’Art Contemporain de Carthage (Carthage Contemporary Art Days), whose aim is to regularly stage art exhibitions in different sites in the country and to create a bridge between the ancient past of Tunisia and the contemporary scene. The next festival was inaugurated in 2019 and took place in the halls of the Tunis City of Culture, the Museum of Bardo and the Palace of El Abdelia. Also in this case a selected group of Tunisian and international artists were invited to exhibit their works, but in this edition the organizers added some workshops to the program, which focused on graffiti and street art, in collaboration with art schools sites of Kasserine and Tataouine, and on the mapping of archaeological sites in Sbeitla and Ksour. Because of covid pandemic, the new edition of JACC, ‘L’Art, un chemin’ (‘Art is a path’), took place in May 2023 (Monia, ‘Journées d’Art Contemporain de Carthage (JACC) – 3ème Session (26 – 30 Mai 2023)’, 2023) About 200 artists were part of this celebration of art at the Cité de la Culture and the Maison des Arts du Belvédère. 150 were Tunisians, the others came from 23 different countries. There was also a special pavilion dedicated to the famous Ecole de Tunis (The Tunis School), whose artists brought the Tunisian artistic scene to the international arena and are still remembered today as the Pioneer of Modern Art in Tunisia.
Nicene Kossentini, Abdaat, from the series Tumadhir’s Walk, ink on paper, 2022, source: Mutualart.com
Among the artists of the new generation who have established themselves in recent years, Nicene Kossentini is one of the most accredited. Born in Sfax in 1976, she graduated at the Fine Art Institute in Tunis and continued her postgraduate studies at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg. Kossentini explores themes of memory and identity in her photography, videos, installations and paintings. She is represented by Selma Feriani Gallery, where she has exhibited in few occasions in solo and group exhibitions. The last solo exhibition was entitled ‘Tumadhir’s walk’ and was held from the 5th December 2022 to the 21st January 2023. The minimalist works of art on display were made using ink on paper which created variations of black and white contrasts. At a closer look a viewer would realise that the artist has written down an endless series of lines, formed by Arabic words (Kossentimi, ‘Tumadhir’s walk’, 2022). The main source of inspiration are the elegies by the Arab poetess Al-Khansāʾ, laqab (honorific title) of Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr (Najd, circa 575 – 644 or 661), who converted to Islam late in life but whose work was mainly imbued by purely pagan and Bedouin traditions. Kossentini together with the singer and performer Alia Sellami found in Al-Khansāʾ’s elegies a way to emphasize the link between the tangible and intangible worlds as well as the connection between the written and sung words, the invisible connectivity between generations as well as the expressiveness of poetry and beauty in contemporary societies, too often characterised by violence, oppression and inability to communicate.
Hela Lamine Autumn leaves of the Arab Spring, 2011-12, source: Plan-bey.com
Héla Lamine was born in Tunis in 1984. She studied at the Fine Arts Institute in Tunis and at the University Paris I Panthéon –Sorbonne in Paris. Lamine is a multimedia artist and a teacher at the Institute of Fine Arts in Sousse. In her practice, the artist experiments with many different types of materials and techniques (drawing, engraving, painting, collage, fresco, virtual reality) (https://helalamine.com/). This allows her to investigate what is accessible on a superficial level to the people who look at her works, depending on their personal experience, training and sensitivity, as opposed to what is hidden on a much deeper, intrinsic level. Her ‘method’ of revealing secret and unknown aspects of contemporary life can apply to human beings as individual subjects and as a society. A reflection of her artistic world can be found in the ongoing Still life (work in constant expansion) (2020-2023), which is a virtual reality experience, organised into a series of different ecosystems and populated by animals, humans and hybrid creatures, which interact with each other. All the ecosystems are connected and form a sort of microcosm that take the viewers into other annexed microcosms. The entire virtual universe is a mirror of the relationships within families and societies and between living beings and the natural environment. At the core of the complex virtual reality experience there is the zaouia, a place where the viewer can reconnect with his inner self, a place of spirituality, harmony and transformation.
Ymen Berhouma, Mundus Archetypus, 2022, ink watercolor and pencil on paper, source: artafricamagazine.org
Born in Tunisia in 1976, Ymen Berhouma is a self-taught artist, whose work mainly focuses on painting, sculpture and installation. She lives between Paris and Tunis. At the beginning of her career, her artistic world was full of dreamlike figures that populated a sort of children’s fairy tale world. Along the years, however, her practice has become more intimate and to a certain extent darker (Soltane, ‘Breath of Freedom / Tunisia Critical art from Tunisia, created before and after the revolution. Virtual group exhibition’, 2011). She has not abandoned her dreamlike creatures, but through them she expresses her vision and interpretation of the current political situation and the role of women in contemporary societies.
We already came across the work of Atef Maatallah in this article. He is the artist who decorated the façade of 32bis with the fresco Les Bâtisseurs (‘the builders’). Born in al Fahs in 1981, he graduated at the Institut Supérieur des Beaux-Arts of Tunis, where he studied sculpture, and pursued his training at the Cite internationale des arts in Paris. He was twice awarded the Prize of Paris Contemporary Drawing for his undisputed talent and sharp eye in depicting the extraordinary daily life of ordinary people. Most of the time in his drawings and paintings, the artist portrays men and women engaged in all sort of activities.
Atef Maatallah, Troppa, Graphite on fine art paper laid on canvas, 2019, source: Artsy.net
They are often accompanied by objects easily recognisable by all viewers, which indicate the universality of human conditions in modern society. In a series of drawings for his first solo exhibition in Dubai in 2019, entitled Les bruissement de la pierre (‘The rustling of stone’), Maatallah concentrated on reproducing on paper some views of the important archaeological site of Thuburbo Majus (Arundhati-Thomas, ‘Atef Maatallah’, undated). The drawings are full of faithful details of the architectural remains, to which, however, everyday objects or snapshots of daily life have been added, as in Les Linges de Junon (‘Juno’s linens’), where some clothes are hung out to dry among the ruins of a temple. In this series the artist underlines the role played by time and memory in the life of human beings and humanity as a whole and underlines the dichotomy between the short personal history of a single generation and the millennial history of the world in its entirety.
What emerges from this short article is that there is no doubt that the Tunisian art scene is in full expansion and there are all the conditions for it to continue to be so in the future. Thanks to the opening of new public and private institutions and the awareness of the important role played by art and culture in contemporary societies, both emerging and established artists have found the perfect humus for their practices to be recognised in Tunisia and abroad.
Dialoghi Mediterranei, n. 64, novembre 2023
[*] Abstract
La scena artistica tunisina è cambiata molto nell’ultimo decennio, specialmente dopo la cosiddetta Primavera Araba, che come è noto fu quell’ondata di rinnovamento politico e sociale che tra la fine del 2010 e l’inizio del 2011 investì l’intero Medio Oriente e che trovò il suo punto di origine proprio in Tunisia con la Rivoluzione dei Gelsomini. Artisti, galleristi e professionisti del settore erano già noti e molto attivi ben prima di questo cruciale momento storico, ma certamente le conseguenze della Rivoluzione hanno fatto sì che lo Stato comprendesse nuovamente l’importanza dell’investire nell’arte e più in generale nella cultura e si dimostrasse favorevole all’apertura e al potenziamento di musei e centri culturali. Da quest’aria di rinnovamento hanno tratto profitto gli artisti, che grazie ad una maggiore libertà di espressione hanno raggiunto fama e riconoscimenti a livello nazionale, ma anche internazionale, in tempi relativamente brevi. In questo articolo si rappresenta come la scena artistica tunisina è cambiata, sottolineando alcune delle maggiori realizzazioni a livello pubblico e privato e ponendo l’accento su alcuni degli artisti più rappresentativi del momento.
Riferimenti bibliografici
S. Arundhati-Thomas, ‘Atef Maatallah’, ARTFORUM, undated, https://www.artforum.com/events/atef-maatallah-246200/ (accessed October 13, 2023)
A. Downey, ‘Where to Now: Chkoun Ahna at the National Museum of Carthage, Tunis, 2012’. Ibraaz, 30 May 2012 http://www.anthonydowney.com/2012/05/30/where-to-now/ (accessed September 26, 2023)
G. Brownell Mitic, ‘A Voice for Art from North Africa and the Middle East’, The New York Times, December 4, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/arts/selma-fariani-gallery-art-basel-miami-beach.html (accessed September 16, 2023)
A. Gorgi Contemporary Art Gallery, website of the gallery: https://agorgi.com/galerie/ (accessed October 13, 2023)
Guide: Tunisia’s Art Scene, April 2023 https://soukra.co/guide-tunisias-art-scene/ (accessed September 13, 2023)
S. Kossentimi, ‘Tumadhir’s walk’, exhibition press release, Selma Feriani Tunis, November 2022 https://www.selmaferiani.com/exhibitions/54-tumadhir-s-walk-nicene-kossentini/press_release_text/ (accessed October 13, 2023)
Hela Lamine, artist website: https://helalamine.com/ (accessed October 14, 2023)
Z. Larkins, ‘Chkoun Ahna opens Tunisia’s Contemporary chapter’, Art in America, May 2, 2012 https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/tunis-chkoun-ahna-58841/ (accessed September 18, 2023)
MACAM Musée National d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, museum website: https://www.macam-tunis.tn/ (accessed October 13, 2023)
Monia, ‘Journées d’Art Contemporain de Carthage (JACC) – 3ème Session (26 – 30 Mai 2023)’,
Tunisie-Tribune, May 23, 2023 https://www.tunisie-tribune.com/2023/05/23/journees-dart-contemporain-de-carthage-jacc-3eme-session-26-30-mai-2023/ (accessed October 10, 2023)
H. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Le Violon Bleu, undated https://www.khtt.net/en/page/9114/le-violon-bleu# (accessed October 13, 2023)
M. Ben Soltane, ‘Breath of Freedom / Tunisia Critical art from Tunisia, created before and after the revolution. Virtual group exhibition’, Nafas Art Magazine, September 2011 https://universes.art/en/nafas/articles/2011/breath-of-freedom (accessed October 13, 2023).
______________________________________________________________
Roberta Marin, ha conseguito la laurea in Lettere Moderne con indirizzo storico-artistico all’Università di Trieste e ha completato il suo corso di studi con un Master in Arte Islamica e Archeologia presso la School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) dell’Università di Londra. Ha viaggiato a lungo nell’area mediterranea e il suo campo di interesse comprende l’arte e l’architettura mamelucca, la storia dei tappeti orientali e l’arte moderna e contemporanea del mondo arabo e dell’Iran. Collabora con la Khalili Collection of Islamic Art e insegna arte e architettura islamica in istituzioni pubbliche e private nel Regno Unito e in Italia.
______________________________________________________________
