Because of Tunisia’s location, quite a bit of the types of art and particular styles have been based on their history and influences from other areas. Spain, Persia, and even China has had their influence on Tunisian art. The country’s older art forms use these influences to create a style called Arabesque. It’s a type of surface decoration that consists of scrolling, intertwined vines, tendrils, foliage, or sometimes just lines with other elements to it. Sometimes it can be created as a tile, and the tile is replicated (I suppose somewhat like a partial tessellation, perhaps?). Because Islamic art forbids creating any likeness to people, it will often employ these arabesque-style artforms, incorporating geometric patterns with it. It creates for a very complicated, beautiful look.
Tunisia is also known for its mosaics and pottery. Mosaic art is one of my favorite styles of art: taking smaller pieces of ceramic or glass usually (or both perhaps) and creating a picture out of the pieces. They use a variety of bright colors to make these designs, mostly seen on walls or floor patterns. You can see this style of art used in a lot of buildings and in architecture, and many times, mosaics are cut to create geometric shapes and even accented in gold or other metals.
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| by Ammar Farhat |
Early on, painting wasn’t quite something that Tunisians engaged much in since Islam forbids painting humans. By the time the French arrived and took over, painting extended itself from a European artform to one that Tunisians took up as well. Art schools popped up, especially in Tunis, and students began learning skills and techniques from all over Europe, Asia, and other places. A group of painters led by Moses Levy, Ammar Farhat, Abdelaziz Gorgi, Yahia Turki and others encouraged native themes and rejected some other foreign influences in a way to promote their country. It ended up bringing people of different backgrounds together. As Tunisia gained its independence, artists started going off on their own, incorporating their own national flair into other genres, like abstract, expressionist, fantasy, calligraphy, and other styles. And as much as Tunisians went abroad to study art, other artists trekked to Tunisia for the same thing, most notably Alexander Roubtzoff, Paul Klee, and August Macke.
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| Aboul-Qacem Echebbi |
Tunisian literature is either published in Arabic or in French. Clearly, there’s more literature written in Arabic than French, mostly because the French influence didn’t come until 1881. Poetry has long been an artform among the Arabic-speaking countries, and Tunisian poetry is included. However, Tunisian poetry is also known for stretching the rules, doing their own thing through nonconformity, and creating their own through innovation. One poet who represents this well is Aboul-Qacem Echebbi--most famously known for writing the last two verses of the current national anthem. The sad thing is that he died at age 25 from heart problems, but his poetry has been revived to a degree in recent years.
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| Albert Memmi |
French literature in comparison was seen as a critical approach to writing. In fact, one French-Tunisian writer, Albert Memmi, who just passed away last month, didn’t have high hopes for Tunisian literature. He essentially alluded to the idea that it just simply wouldn’t go anywhere, a fad that will fade. But that’s completely contrary to what other Tunisian authors have done by traveling abroad. Authors like Hélé Béji (author, educator), Abdelwahab Meddeb (professor, poet, novelist, translator, radio producer), and Mustapha Tlili (novelist, worked at the UN) brought themes of traveling, wandering, heartbreak, and exile to the forefront.
Radio also had a huge influence on storytelling (both fiction and nonfiction), especially during the early 20th century. Telling stories on the radio during that time was popular all over the world because it was a fairly new technology that allowed you to reach massive audiences. Douagi Ali was one of these writers, producing over 150 of these radio stories, not to mention over 500 poems and folksongs, and about 15 plays as well. Even today, radio is still being used by youth as a medium for telling journalistic stories that commercial and government stations wouldn’t begin to think of airing. These youth have even rejected the idea that there are some subjects (as directed by some older people) that should be taboo, like politics, religion, and sexuality. But they’re pushing forward and creating more of these youth-led radio stations across the country.
Up next: music and dance
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