Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Contemporary Art from Algeria and its Diaspora
The exhibition borrows its title from a 1979 publication on early Algerian film, edited by Wassyla Tamzali, which references Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot and Merzak Allouache’s 1976 cult classic film Omar Gatlato. The exhibition title combines two important conceptual clues for how contemporary Algerian visual artists and filmmakers approach and engage art as the decolonization process evolves. Both source works are portraits of anti-heroes trying to make sense of their day-to-day lives.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Louisa Babari, Fayçal Baghriche, Bardi, Mouna Bennamani, Adel Bentounsi, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Halida Boughriet, Fatima Chafaa, EL Meya, Hakima El Djoudi, Karim Ghelloussi, Mounir Gouri, Mourad Krinah, Nawel Louerrad, Amina Menia, Sonia Merabet, Yazid Oulab, Lydia Ourahmane, Sadek Rahim, Dania Reymond, Sara Sadik, Fethi Sahraoui, Massinissa Selmani, Fella Tamzali Tahari, Djamel Tatah, and Sofiane Zouggar.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Fayçal Baghriche. Le bras du Cardinal (The Cardinal's Arm), 2016. Bronze and brass. Courtesy of the artist and FRAC Poitou-Charentes, Angoulême. Image: © Paris ADAGP
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Adel Bentounsi. CV, 2019. Pressure cooker with keyboard stickers for PC. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Halida Boughriet. Corps de Masse (Body Mass), 2014. HD video, 15:51 min. Courtesy of the artist. © ADAGP / Halida Boughriet, 2018.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Fatima Chafaa. My Father's Painting: Fatma d'Arc or Jeanna N'soumer, 2019. Photographic installation. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Hakima El Djoudi. El Malek El Resine - the melancholy of the king - the afflicted king, 2018. Pen on paper, series of eighteen boards. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Karim Ghelloussi. Mémoire de la jungle (Au désert j'ai dû me rendre) [Memory of the jungle (In the desert I had to surrender)], 2018. Wood fragments on wood panel. Courtesy of the artist and Circonstance Galerie, Nice.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Mounir Gouri. Naufrage (Shipwreck), 2016. Digital video, 8:51 min. Courtesy of the artist. © Mounir Gouri, 2016.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Mourad Krinah. The Sunday Waltz - Tribute to Paolo Uccello, 2019. Graphic wallpaper. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Sonia Merabet. Self-portrait. Draping. London, 2010. Duratrans transparency in lightbox. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
El Meya. Les Eves (The Eves), 2018. Acrylic on canvas. Private collection. Courtesy of Rhizome, Algiers.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Yazid Oulab. La halte (The Halt), 2013. Reed and tambourine. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Dania Reymond. Le Jardin d'Essai (The Test Garden), 2016. Digital video, 42:28 min. Courtesy of the artist, Blue Monday Productions and La Petite Production.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Fella Tamzali Tahari. Trio, 2014. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Djamel Tatah. Untitled, 2019. Oil and wax on canvas. Courtesy of the artist, Jérôme Poggi Gallery, Paris and Ben Brown Fine Arts, London. Image: © Jean-Louis Losi.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Selected Works in the Exhibition
Sofiane Zouggar. From the "In-Out" series, 2015–ongoing. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
The exhibition has been developed through the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Additional support has been provided by Etant Donnés Contemporary Art, a program developed by FACE Foundation and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, with lead funding from the French Ministry of Culture and Institut Français-Paris, the Florence Gould Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Chanel USA, the ADAGP, and the CPGA.
Date
October 26, 2019 - March 15, 2020
Curated By
Natasha Marie Llorens
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February 8, 2020
Public Lecture: Around 1962, from Algeria to the World
Todd Shepard, Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor, Department of History, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University | Algeria's independence from over one hundred and thirty years of French colonial domination almost immediately came to define how many people understood what "decolonization" tout court meant. Being known as the "Mecca of Revolutionaries" contributed to how much the Algerian Revolution meant to Algerians, especially to those who, in the name of this triumph, governed independent Algeria. Many other Algerians, however, have and continue to draw their own inspiration from this history. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition, Waiting for Omar Gatlato: Contemporary Art from Algeria and its Diaspora
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