Breath of Freedom
Critical art from Tunisia, created before and after the revolution. Virtual group exhibition.
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Le Salut de la Peinture. 2009
(The Painting’s Salute)
Happening
Video documentation
15 min
Nabil Saouabi's Le Salut de la peinture (The Painting’s Salute) is a Happening that occurred on 21 May 2009 at the Abdellia Palace during the 7th Spring for the Fine Arts in La Marsa. In the video that documents this Happening, Nabil Saouabi attacks the Tunisian Ministry of Culture’s Purchasing Commission head-on. This commission, which purchases artworks for the State, is much criticized by artists because of its opaque operations, its questionable management, and its vague objectives. The artworks it purchases are stockpiled in inappropriate places and hence are at risk of being ruined. The State remained deaf to demands by the artists to reform this obsolete structure. It was when the artist learned that the so-called commission had decided to purchase his work that he decided to destroy it and to divide up the pieces of this painting among the exhibition’s visitors.
© Still: Nabil Saouabi
Critical art from Tunisia, created before and after the revolution. Virtual group exhibition.