In an exclusive collaboration between craftsmanship and contemporary art, “Hirafen” offers an unprecedented concentration of artisan know-how and the breathtaking creativity of contemporary artists. Organized on the occasion of Talan Expo, a major event on the Tunisian art scene, “Hirafen” will run until March 20, 2024 at the Workshops of the Technical Center for Carpet and Weaving in Tunis. Nineteen artists in a variety of media will be taking part, laying the foundations for future artisanal practice and innovation in the city of Tunis.
Curated by Ludovic Delalande and Nadia Jelassi, “Hirafen” is a chance for contemporary artists to (re)discover the art of Tunisian weaving and braiding, now totally obsolete. While there were 750,000 craftsmen in Tunisia in the 2000s, “today there are around 200,000. It’s a loss for our tangible and intangible heritage,” laments Mehdi Houas, President of the Talan Group.
The association’s aim is to promote contemporary creation in Tunisia, and the president of the international group, in collaboration with executive director Aïcha Gorgi, see this artistic presentation as an opportunity to bring this ancestral local practice up to date again, and to give a taste for taking up the torch in order to build a lasting and innovative Tunisian cultural craft.
This perspective guided the curators in their selection of contemporary artists to take part in this unprecedented dialogue between contemporary art and Tunisian craftsmanship. Indeed, we have invited artists who have a particular interest in the issues raised by the Talan Expo group, or whose preferred medium is weaving, and who are keen to discover more about Tunisian craft design to enrich their artistic practice. Indeed, this collaboration between contemporary artists and Tunisian craftsmen specializing in weaving and braiding promises to build a new art form enriched by many expert hands.
The artists excited by this vision of a resurrected and updated Tunisian handicraft and who will be helping to build this new perspective are Asma Ben Aïssa, Aïcha Filali, Abdoulaye Konaté, Aymen Mbarki, Aïcha Snoussi, Ali Tnani, Binta Diaw, Chalisée Naamani, Dora Dalila Cheffi, Jennifer Douzenel, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Majd Abdel Hamid, Meriem Bouderbala, Mohamed Amine Hamouda, Moffat Takadiwa, Najah Zarbout, Sonia Kallel, Sara Ouhaddou and Zineb Sedira.
These contemporary artists will take part in a research and production residency in Tunisia, designing specific works that will then be unveiled at the “Hirafen” exhibition. Through their unique artistic practices, these artists of different origins and generations develop an individual approach to the theme, exploring the many dimensions of an intangible heritage whose history is strewn with influences, evolutions and ruptures.
Throughout Tunisia, from north to south, people have always practiced the art of weaving, embroidering and braiding natural fibers taken directly from the surrounding landscape. These ancestral gestures give rise to objects of great richness and diversity, blending different materials, colors and motifs. These varied skills and techniques have been passed down from generation to generation, beyond time.
This vast creative terrain has enabled the artists to explore this craft tradition and offered them a field for experimentation, allowing them to connect with local know-how, the gesture of the hand and, more broadly, with nature and history. The idea behind this exhibition is to create an opportunity for dialogue between artist and craftsman, and to raise the question of collaboration around collective work. Knowledge is still passed on, and gestures are repeated ad infinitum to preserve an active collective memory, as evidenced by the “Hirafen” exhibition, whose plurality of voices only extends the narrative.
Aïcha Snoussi, they can go swimming in the sea, 2023 أان بعشق ا لب حر Installation (old cistern, Centre machines and their debris, ropes, braided plant fibers -alfa, palm-, shells, various materials, sound). Sound creation: Paco With the collaboration of Olfa Trabelsi Editing team: Mohamed Ayari, Ramzi Bahri, Badr Sayari. Nicolas Fauqué for Talan L’Expo
Each artist’s unique artistic practice has enabled them to take different approaches, giving a three-dimensionality to the exhibition. Some have embarked on a journey of (re)discovery of ancient and contemporary Tunisian methods and textiles, proposing works that are both archival and innovative, recalling these forgotten techniques or opening up new avenues towards promising local craftsmanship. These contemporary artists and local craftsmen include Joël Andrianomearisoa, Ali Tnani, Aymen Mbarki, Abdoulaye Konaté, Sonia Kallel, Ateliers Robert Four d’Ezzahra, Sara Ouhaddou, and many others.
The “Hirafen” exhibition also explores political and ecological aspects, as curator Ludovic Delalande points out: “Talking about crafts is as much about politics as it is about ecology.” The artists thus address the impacts of industrial pollution and climate disruption on local crafts, with contributions from Mohamed Amine Hamouda, Moffat Tokadiwa, Binta Diaw, Najah Zarbout and others drawing links between these contemporary themes.
Last but not least, a common question drives all the participating artists: the future of handicrafts. At the heart of “Hirafen” lies this reflection on the future of local crafts. In addition to the upstream investigations carried out by contemporary artists and craftsmen, numerous works offer a glimpse of this hybrid future, blending materials and craft techniques with contemporary art.
The “Hirafen” exhibition bears witness to the fertile encounter between contemporary art and Tunisian craftsmanship, offering a space for innovation and transmission for a renewed and promising craft practice. Until March 20, 2024, discover the fruit of this inspiring collaboration between local craftsmen and contemporary artists at the Workshop of the Technical Center for Carpet and Weaving in Tunis.