Fall & Rise | Group Show

27 January 2023 - 16 March 2024 | Bhar Lazrag

HELA AMMAR

Born in June 1969 in Tunis, Héla Ammar is a visual artist. Her photographs and installations deal with issues of memory. Identity and marginality are at the center of her concerns. Author of « Corridors » and co-author of the « Syndrome de Siliana », she has developed a body of work on prison conditions in Tunisia. Her works are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum (London), the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), and the Musée de la Fondation Slaoui (Casablanca). She has participated in numerous exhibitions, biennials, and international fairs including: Reflections, the British Museum (London 2021), The refugee week, the Victoria and Albert Museum (London 2019), Beyond borders, Boghossian Foundation (Brussels, 2019), Mara’ina, the King Abdulaziz Center of Art and Culture (Ithra, Saudi Arabia, 2019), The Biennial of the contemporary Arab world photographers (Arab World Institute, Paris 2017), Dak’art Biennial (Senegal 2014, 2016), « Fragments d’une Tunisie contemporaine » MuCem (Marseille, France 2015), Addis Photo Fest (Ethiopia 2016, 2018), Bamako Encounters (Mali, 2015, 2017), Something Else, Off Biennial Cairo (Egypt 2015), International Photography Encounters of Fes (Morocco, 2015), the 27th Instants Vidéo (Digital and Poetic Festival, Marseille 2014, 2016, 2018), World Nomads New York (USA, 2013), Les Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles (France, 2013), Dream City (Tunisia, 2010, 2012 and 2017) …

HICHEM DRISS

Born in Tunis in 1968, this artist was drawn to photography from an early age. He received his first camera at the age of 12. This passion eventually became his profession. Currently based in Tunis, Hichem Driss is an independent photographer. He works freelance and in 1998 created the Barguelil studio in Tunis, where he produces advertising commissions as well as personal projects (prints for artists, art books). He has presented his work many times in Tunisia and abroad, such as at the Fiesta des sud in Marseille in 1997 with « voiles dévoilés », showing fragmented images of the female body; « Le Grand Parcours », about the transformation of the GP1 road into a highway and its economic impact at the 9th African Biennale of Photography in Bamako; « Lettres d’argile » with the IFC in Tunis in 2000; the Noorderlicht Festival in the Netherlands with the series « A travers les côtes ». That same series was shown at the Athens Month of Photography and at Aperture Foundation in New York in 2006. In 2011, he participated in the Inside Out project with J.R. That same year at Galerie KO21 in Paris, he presented a series « Les Singularités anonymes » or « #404 », depicting the struggle of Tunisian youth against oppression before the revolution. He also took part in the exhibition « Dégagements. La Tunisie un an après » at the Institut du Monde Arabe. His series on abandoned hotels was shown in « Effervescences » at the Institut des Cultures d’Islam in Paris and in the group show « Réminiscences » at Talan (Tunis). He regularly exhibits at Galerie Ghaya in Sidi Bou Saïd. As a keen observer, he captures changes in his surroundings — both in nature through series such as « Traces », « Brouillard » or « Mare Nostrum » where the elements shape the captured image, and through the political imprint on our environment in works like « Tout ça pour ça » and his latest Tunisian exhibition « Sept fois c’est fini » held in February 2017 between La Boite and the IHEC chapel. That same series was also exhibited at the Qattan Foundation in Palestine in the show Subcontracted nations.

SKANDER KHLIF

Skander Khlif, documentary photographer born in Tunis in 1983, shows a particular interest in people and memory, exploring them through his own history marked by cultural hybridity. An early experience opened the doors to the art of photography, revealing the powerful capacity of this medium to communicate. However, he temporarily set aside this passion to pursue studies in engineering before patiently returning to his photographic vocation. Today, based between Munich and Tunis, Skander explores the essence of life in public spaces. His artistic path has gradually turned toward the intimate and the exploration of social issues, a shift partly inspired by the unique challenges posed by confinement during the pandemic. Skander’s work has quietly illuminated publications and exhibitions on many occasions, while being honored with several prestigious awards.

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