Tunis – In the old medina of Tunis, the old town of the Tunisian capital, a wall installation titled “1001 Bricks” showcases the talents of “invisible” creators, including art students, people with disabilities and school dropouts.
Led by Swiss artist Anne Francey the project took shape over a year through workshops that culminated in a large bas-relief made of carved and painted clay bricks, reimagining the cityscape.
The massive artwork now graces a square in the UNESCO-listed old town of the Tunisian capital.
Its main creators are “the invisible, all these people who are on the margins of society, who have disabilities” and whom “we tend to keep in the shadows and not really acknowledge”, said Francey.
Despite challenges, the project engaged a wide spectrum of 550 participants including art professionals, students and members of AGIM, an association for people with motor disorders. Mohamed Boulila, an AGIM trainer, said all those who contributed to the project left a personal touch.
“Metaphorical” Tunis
Samia Souid, a longtime teacher at AGIM, said the project had a positive impact on youths. “Children who cannot speak expressed their feelings and their ideas” through the project, she said.
Each group of creators “imagined a metaphorical city”, with AGIM participants focusing on a city of challenges, producing sculptures akin to contemporary art.
Supported by a Swiss foundation, the project utilized clay bricks for their availability and wide use in Tunisian construction.
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The initiative follows Francey’s 2019 project “1001 Hands”, inspired by the “One Thousand and One Nights” fairytale, emphasizing stories that intersect endlessly, she said.
Francey noted the rarity and difficulty, on a global scale, of such a “participatory art project”, since it challenges the tradition of top-down artworks.
The installation helped blend the creations of “people of all social status”, from architecture students to youths in reintegration – people facing unemployment, substance abuse and other forms of social invisibility.
Reproduction is prohibited.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
