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Nine artists, members of Tunisia’s burgeoning artistic community, recount the reality they inhabit – their nights, their rage, their dreams. Ellil alghadhab li nahlamou (Night, Rage, Dream) brings together films by a young generation of Tunisian video artists and filmmakers. They all bear the intimate expression of a youth caught up in the upheavals of its time, where disarray, rage and the desire to get out of the world seem to be on the rise. What’s left to fight against renunciation? The power of the imagination, the obstinacy of creation, the hope of overturning the established order.
In partnership with the MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Villa Medici presents the first part of a program conceived by curator Camille Lévy Sarfati, entitled Le rêve n’a jamais de murs et il n’y fait jamais froid (extract from Fil du temps by Etel Adnan, Galerie Lelong, 2021), featuring five short films. It will be followed by a discussion moderated by Morad Montazami, in the presence of Camille Lévy Sarfati, Ismaïl Bahri and Younès Ben Slimane. This first part of the program will be complemented by a second, Les vaincus auront toujours le dernier mot, which reaffirms the social, political and ontological rage of a young generation of artists as the driving force behind an ebullient and audacious creation. The third part, Et la lumière attend, recounts the experience of cinema as a comforting, perhaps optimistic, experience of encounter. The titles are taken from Etel Adnan’s poetry collection Au fil du temps (2021), as a tribute to the great artist and poet who died in 2021.
PROGRAMMING TO FOLLOW
The program will be screened in its entirety at MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo between March 8 and 24, and will be rounded off by an evening screening at Careof in Milan on March 10, in the presence of curator Camille Lévy Sarfati.
SHORT FILMS
- Le rêve n’a jamais de murs et il n’y fait jamais froid (excerpt from Fil du temps by Etel Adnan, Galerie Lelong, 2021)
- Dora Dalila Cheffi, Tunisian Dance Tutorial with Mamou, 2022
- Younes Ben Slimane, We knew how beautiful they were, these islands, 2022
- Achref Toumi, The Tiger Was Her Keeper, 2022
- Wafa Lazhari, To you, 2023
- Amine Koudhai, And I Said God Get Me Out From Here, 2020
The speakers
Ismaïl Bahri
Ismaïl Bahri uses video, drawing, sculpture and sound, without specialization. His work is interested in the meaning that emerges at the periphery of the gaze, in the presence of the surrounding world that outcrops and reveals its presence. He positions himself as an observer, setting up a device for capturing gestures and empirical experimentation, paying attention to “what happens”.
Morad Montazami
Morad Montazami is an art historian, publisher and curator. After working at London’s Tate Modern between 2014 and 2019 as “Middle East and North Africa” curator, he developed the editorial and curatorial platform Zamân Books & Curating, which explores and revalorizes Arab, African and Asian modernities. He has written numerous essays on artists such as Zineb Sedira, Walid Raad, Latif Al Ani, Faouzi Laatiris, Michael Rakowitz, Mehdi Moutashar and Behjat Sadr.
Younès Ben Slimane
Younès Ben Slimane is an architect, artist and filmmaker. Working through moving and still images, drawing and volumes, he establishes an ongoing dialogue between architecture and the visual arts, where different media coexist and reflect their respective potentialities and limits. He has taken part in a number of contemporary art events, including Documenta fifteen Mobile Lab. His work has been shown at Kadist in Paris, Mucem in Marseille and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje.
The directors
Achref Toumi
Achref Toumi is a Tunisian artist and filmmaker based in Tunis. His family and roots in Tunisia, as well as the aesthetics of his country, are at the heart of his artistic work. He describes his cinematic practice as a means of preserving and archiving disappearing elements.
Wafa Lazhari
Wafa Lazhari is a Tunisian architect, artist and filmmaker. Her artistic practice grew out of the conceptual approach she experimented with during her architectural studies. She explores the ambiguous realm between reality and illusion, through film, drawing, photography and animation.
Amine Koudhai
Amine Koudhai is a filmmaker and video artist. He lives and works in Tunisia. Through his creations, he strives to create a cinematic universe in which his memories and personal experiences blend with surrealist and even fantastical elements.
Dora Dalila Cheffi
Dora Dalila Cheffi lives and works between Tunis and Helsinki. Her work encompasses painting, video and installation art. Cheffi’s work revolves around immediate observations and experiences, which translate into works characterized by vivid colors and shapes.
Younès Ben Slimane
Younès Ben Slimane is an architect, artist and filmmaker. Working through moving and still images, drawing and volume, he establishes an ongoing dialogue between architecture and the visual arts. His films have been selected for festivals such as the Locarno Film Festival, CPH:DOX and DokuFest.
In collaboration with MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo and Careof
Practical information
Thursday, March 7 18:00-20:00 Salle Michel Piccoli Free In French Screening of 5 short films, directors: Achref Toumi, Wafa Lazhari, Amine Koudhai, Dora Dalila Cheffi and resident Younès Ben Slimane
Curator: Camille Lévy Sarfati
In the presence of: residents Morad Montazami and Ismaïl Bahri, Camille Lévy-Sarfati and resident Younès Ben Slimane
Camille Lévy Sarfati
An independent curator, writer and director based in Tunis, Camille Lévy Sarfati is the former director of the 32bis art center. Her curatorial work focuses on contemporary Tunisian and North African practices, around which she has devised various exhibitions and accompanying programs. She is co-founder of the Nessij association, which aims to promote the Tunisian art scene and foster the international mobility of Tunisian artists and art workers.
