Arbres de Vie | NICOLAS HENRY

08 May 2025 - 07 June 2025 | Bhar Lazrag

Part of the sixth edition of the Phosphor Creative District, this exhibition will take root on May 8 in Bhar Lazreg, and blossom until June 7, 2025. An invitation into his universe, where each image whispers a story…

When Arbres de Vie makes a stop in Tunisia:

Prickly pears floating in weightlessness, a pile of agricultural crates in pop colors, a cactus carpet in the style of Land art, swarms of nets for olive harvesting, circular and shimmering installations of tin cans, a screen of dense foliage: these are some of the unexpected settings where men and women from rural Tunisia were staged. By day and by night, in light and in darkness, they were swept into a unique creative adventure to which the visiting artist invited them, in order to tell the stories they entrusted him with. At first hesitant, they eventually joined in with curiosity, candor, and authenticity. Gathering objects from all horizons to serve as backdrops, they contributed with enthusiasm and joy to creating theatrical installations that give the illusion of paintings.

Throughout his many journeys across the globe, from his series on the Grandfathers of the World to Cabanes Imaginaires, the French photographer and visual artist Nicolas Henry traveled last summer to El Mansoura, in the Kesra region, to immortalize carob trees, olive trees, and prickly pears scattered here and there across dazzling landscapes. These millennial trees, which have grown for so many years and continue to bear fruit, fascinate us with their grandeur, longevity, and humility. The subject of trees is not new to the artist, who has been passionate about them since his childhood and through his collaboration with photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Nicolas Henry never ceases to shed light on life stories and encounters with nature along his path. After photographing acacias, baobabs, and balanites in Chad and Senegal, he now presents for the first time in Tunisia his new series entitled Arbres de Vie. This dreamlike, poetic, humanistic, and ecological universe is revealed here.

The Yosr Ben Ammar Gallery, photographer Nicolas Henry, and myself would like to thank the Institut Français in Tunis, the Nexira Foundation, and the company Herbes de Tunis.

Exhibition Curator: Christine Cibert

ARTISTS: Nicolas Henry

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