JAOU 2015
28–29 May 2015
National Museum of Bardo
Rue Mongi Slim
2000 Tunisia
JAOU Tunis 2015
The 3rd Edition of Jaou Tunis will be held from 28 to 31 May. Hosted by Kamel Lazaar Foundation, JAOU Tunis aims to promote the arts and culture of North Africa and the Middle East. It is fast becoming a major art event in the region and this year’s event has added pertinence as it follows the indiscriminate attacks at the National Museum of Bardo, Tunis, which took place on 18 March.
Travelling cultural caravan, JAOU brings together artists and gallerists, art specialists and theorists, collectors and cultural practitioners to create a creative platform that represents and empowers the emerging, independent Arab intelligentsia.
This year, JAOU Tunis is comprised of three major events:
A conference organised by Ibraaz, Visual culture in an Age of Global Conflict will be held on 28 and 29 May at the National Museum of Bardo. The conference will include a condition report on visual culture in the Maghreb, an extended series of roundtable discussions on collaborative geographies in an age of global conflict, the future of art institutions in the Middle East, the use of archives in contemporary art practices, and the historical genealogies of performance art in the Middle East.
Confirmed speakers and performers include Sultan Al Qassemi, Lina Attalah, Mohamed Aziza, Saleh Barakat, Syhème Belkhoja, Moncef Ben Moussa Antonia Carver, Svetlana Costa, Anthony Downey, Aadel Essaadani, Hela Fattoumi, Wassim Ghozlani, Nadia Kaabi Linke, Hiwa K, Tania, El Khoury, Amal Khalaf, Lina Lazaar, Kamel Lazaar, Sofiane Ouissi, Mourad Sakli, and Slavs and Tatars.
The conference will also feature an accelerated session, hosted by Thinkers and Doers, to enable four short-listed cultural entrepreneurs to present projects that promote Arab culture and, in turn, evaluate its economical, social, educational and environmental footprint.
Alongside the conference, JOAU Tunis will showcase a unique, container-based, mobile art exhibition, situated in the heart of Carthage. All The World’s a Mosque will explore the interplay between sacred space, religious ritual, cultural convention and everyday life. Artists involved in this include Adel Abidin, Rashed Al Shashai, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Mounir Fatmi and Moataz Nasr. The idea for the exhibition was born in response to the tragic terror attacks and is designed as a reflective and interactive journey. The exhibition will run from 30 May to 15 June on the steps of the ancient theatre of Carthage. This ambitious project is curated by Lina Lazaar, Contemporary Art Specialist and Director of the Middle East Department, Sotheby’s, with a support team comprised of Maya Ben Ammar, Tayeb Jallouli, Adnen Ben Zine and Ahmed Benys.
In addition, there will be a series of gallery and museum tours and the opening of more than a dozen solo and group exhibitions. Among others, JAOU Tunis 2015 presents Ibrahim Matoussat Gorgi Gallery, Rafik Kamel at Le Violin Bleu and Malek Gnaoui at Selma Feriani Gallery.
Hotel Dar El Marsa will hold an exhibition by Egyptian artist Ahmed Farid with a performance by artist Rochdi Belgasmi. JAOU Tunis also pays tribute to the fathers of L’Ecole de Tunis with a retrospective exhibition of works by Ali Belagha, Jallel Ben Abdallah and Hédi Turki.
Hind Meddeb presents the premiere of a new film and a book signing by Nja Mahdaoui at the National Library are also part of this year’s programme.
Fari Bradley and Chris Weaver will conduct interviews with a selection of conference panellists and guests for broadcast on arts-music radio station Resonance104.4FM. Daily podcasts will be available to download from the show’s webpage.
Full details of the conference, including panels, round-tables, exhibitions, performances, film premieres, book launches, and other surrounding events, can be found on the Kamel Lazaar Foundation website.
