Arts & International Affairs: 2.3: Autumn/Winter 2017 | Page 64

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Murray: Why do it? What makes you put the time in to create a large-scale exhibition
like this in Algeria?
Ali Chaouche: Civ-Oeil Gallery was created in August 1997. For 20 years, we have,
myself and some other founding members, organized the 1st National Salon of Fine
Arts of Oran. In 2000, we followed with several editions in partnership with the di-
rector of culture of the city of Oran, but our ambition grew beyond the scope of the
Mediterranean in 2005, and since then many countries have participated. The 5 th Med-
iterranean Salon of Fine Arts was a complete success in terms of artistic exchange and
culture, and let’s not forget to mention that at the time we organized, simultaneously,
the Mediterranean Salon of Visual Art and the International Rai Festival of Oran (an-
other level of sharing between visual artists and musical artists). In 2010, we decided
to create this biennial, thankfully with the encouragement of many partners, who have
promised us their help (it is only that we had some financial problems relating to our
commitments, which are neutral and non-political). We maintain our freedom in our
choices and ideas with respect to the founding principles of the Democratic and Popu-
lar Republic of Algeria. Our biennial is founded and created by an artistic and cultural
association independent of any guardianship. In the end, what really brings us to real-
ize the magnitude of the impact and importance of this biennial, is our success in the
previous editions, which makes our commitment to sharing and creating exchanges
between other countries and artists of the Mediterranean and the world, a key factor
in creating a message of peace for a better world.
Figure 2: Photo credit Anne Murray. Curators Sadek Rahim (on the left),
Tewfik Ali Chaouche, and journalist Stéphanie Pioda
62