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.

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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.

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