Patricia K.Triki and Christine Bruckbauer, la chronologie, 2011–2016, work in progress.

Photo credit: Patricia K. Triki

For many artists, the spirit of the revolution and the euphoria of newly won freedom have awoken an urge to participate in the formation of a modern constitutional state and an unprecedented feeling of responsibility for society and the future of one's own country. In the last five years, the activities of artists, cultural associations and scientists, curators, journalists, bloggers, and trade unions have demonstrated substantial personal engagement in the transformation processes taking place. An immense mobilization has occurred, which has crystallized in a wide range of aesthetic formations.

Encouragement and support have also come from international institutions and organizations that recognized art's potential to embed democratic ideas in the minds of the population. They have provided engaged creative workers with the pertinent training and financial means to realize their ideas. 'The arts, culture, and education play decisive roles in the constitution of societies and in coping with current global and regional challenges. Artists, persons in the cultural sector, and media players are seismographs as well as shapers of social change', states the Goethe Institute's website, for example, which offers a training programme to strengthen the cultural infrastructure and cultural sector in transition countries under the motto 'Culture and Development'.[1]

On the occasion of the presentation of the workshop 'Outreach – The City as a Museum', which took place in Tunis in 2013, Michael Spindelegger, in his role as Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, formulated it as follows: 'In cultural encounters resides a notable degree of conflict and problem-solving capacity, which can be accessed through the involvement of the creative potential of both the cultural workers as well as civil society.'[2]

Arslane Bestaoui, Arrêt à la Corruption, 2014. Participatory project, Bye Bye Bakchich Systeme, Sousse.

Copyright and courtesy the artist.

Tunisian artists and other cultural players have gradually learned to be a mouthpiece for society. They observe the developments in the new state and protest against human rights violations. Today, there are close binds between art and sociopolitical engagement.[3] 'The political aspect in this engagement cannot be separated from artistic engagement. Art thus becomes a state affair', writes the artist and art critic Selima Karoui in her article that investigates the place of art in the public space of Tunisia.[4]

It is a necessity that this artistic activism leaves the protected space of the studio and conventional exhibition venues and to invest in new sites and places for art. Now more than ever, art requires public attention in order to be effective. For the first time the artists dare to address former taboo subjects like violations of human rights, social inequality and corruption and wish to create highest possible awareness within the Tunisian population but also in the international public eye.[5]

In this context, public space – be it in its virtual (social media) or physical-material state (streets, public places and so on) – comes to the fore. Public spaces are the new venues or action spaces for contemporary art practices. In this respect, not only urban but also more and more rural areas play an important role.[6] Public space in its understanding as an agora – a freely accessible gathering place, a place of encounters between people from different social groups, or even as a site for 'subaltern counterpublics'[7] – didn't exist in Tunisia in the recent past; first it had to be reclaimed by the population as their right to a 'common good'.[8]

This space was monopolized by the former heads of state, an appropriation that was doubly present given the pronounced personality cults. The first president of the Tunisian Republic Habib Bourguiba (1957–1987) had imposing depictions of himself set up in public space. One example is the equestrian statue that his successor, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, banished from the city centre and sent to the harbour village La Goulette in 1987 at the beginning of his rule, in order to make space for an obelisk-shaped clock tower.[9] Instead of erecting glorious statues, he was content with 'subtle' gestures such as renaming important streets and squares[10] and with the omnipresence of his imposing, never-ageing likeness on billboards and façades.[11]

Halim Karabibene, MNAMC, Performance at the Kasbah, Tunis, 2011.

Copyright and courtesy the artist.

Nevertheless, the idea of public space as a site for artistic presentations is indeed rooted in the history of the Maghreb region. Just think of the public storytellers who brought their stories to the people with theatrical techniques, or the Boussadias[12] (dancers and street musicians who were ascribed magical powers and have their origins in sub-Saharan Africa), or the ancient Karakouz tradition, a satirical shadow puppet theatre that can be traced back to fourteenth-century Tunisia. Regrettably, these practices were increasingly subsumed as inferior folkloric traditions and denounced by ministers and beys, who were often the subject of the performance.[13] Street artists descended to the lowest fringe of society until they ultimately disappeared from the street altogether.[14] Previous political leaders also invested all efforts into preventing gatherings in public spaces in order to keep critical activities that endangered the system at bay.

While the above mentioned examples of traditional art in the public sphere largely catered to the entertainment and pastime of the people as a substitute for TV, radio, and social media, the present art practices in public spaces are different in one very decisive point: they invite the audience to participate. The people became the focus of the artistic work; the audiences are preferably included in the creative process and directly involved in the production of the art. Art aims to instigate self-accountability among a population who, from now on, will take their future into their own hands.[15] It subverts the longstanding status of the passive observer conditioned by the dictatorship and turns people into co-authors of a new democratic form of society. 'Instead of the work as an object we find open events, installations, actions, processes, plays, instructions for action, concepts, environments. Passive observers have become co-creators, co-players, participants', writes artist-curator Peter Weibel.[16]

Moufida Fedhila, Super-Tunisian, St'art, performance on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, Tunis, 2011.

Copyright and courtesy the artist.

In cooperation with people, cultural workers attempt to elaborate concepts for reconciling conflicts and build models for a better future. There are often longer phases of research conducted by the artists beforehand, which include, above all, acts of approaching one another, listening to each other, and sometimes also living together for a certain period of time.[17] This new form of artistic expression strives to unite all citizens and grant them the same rights. Participative art aims to restore a sense of community, stimulate dialogue in the population, and to initiate shared social engagement. These artists act as mediators between groups that otherwise wouldn't come into contact with one another. Art serves as a means to create new interpersonal relationships.[18]

In the few last years, diverse independent structures for the production of contemporary art have emerged in Tunisia. Where the state neglects, artists take the initiative and form collectives, found art associations, open new exhibition and action spaces, and organize engaged art projects, for which they invite artists from abroad to participate in as well.[19] The borders between the notions of artist, curator, project manager, neighbourhood worker, art critic, cultural politician, recipient, and so on, are fluid. This enables the realization of many notable interventions, in the urban as well as rural space of Tunisia, in the first place. Behind every project there are confident individualists who fight for the creative revolution of society with great personal commitment.

But can these new forms of artistic expression successfully embed themselves in the Tunisian cultural landscape or were/are they merely temporary phenomena triggered by the enthusiasm of the revolution and ideological and financial support from abroad? Can we see the first symptoms of fatigue, now after five years when international attention is slowly being redirected to other parts of the world and, therewith, the funding sources are running dry? Have the many obstacles – those put in the way by the state and a very conservative segment of the population – discouraged artists and cultural workers?[20] Are they frightened by the new, invisibly imposed or not yet assessable censorship by the state and society? Or is it the lack of understanding for these artistic practices – not only amongst the population but also in the elite local art circle, where key figures cling to traditional definitions of art informed by aesthetics?[21]

On an international scale, 'engaged art' is increasingly embedding itself as a sociopolitical strategy. It is an integral component in new urban planning projects or, for example, is called upon in neighbourhoods with a high level of criminality to mediate and reconcile conflicts. Departments to support 'art in public space' are being set up in ministries, and programmes are being introduced at the academies of arts, which are explicitly dedicated to the subject of art and society.

In post-'Arab Spring' societies, too, engaged artistic practices need a lobby; a strong union behind them. They require long-term investments in culture and society, which is why public appreciation, safety, and state funding are highly important in this regard. They need the recognition of their social relevance and the official acknowledgement that evolution involves – besides technological and scientific achievements - the creative potential of art.