EXODUS : A MIRROR OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF ART BIENNIALS Murray : What did you expect from artists who submitted work for the theme of exodus ?
Ali Chaouche : There were 37 Algerian artists and 20 foreign artists this year , hailing from England , Canada , Spain , France , Syria , Switzerland , Turkey , Tunisia , Palestine , the United States , Greece , Italy and Thailand and the exhibition took place at the recently inaugurated Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Oran . The participating artists , who submitted their work for the theme of exodus , were welcomed as a part of this project , because of their human and artistic engagement : as was stated in the open call for the theme , “ Art is the mirror of society ; it reflects one ’ s daily life happiness and sadness .” The works of these artists echo this reflection to the public . For me , my objectives as a curator were to re-introduce contemporary art to the people of Oran who could not see and frequent exhibitions and visual art events for a long time except at the Civ-Oeil Gallery , which shows contemporary art of Oran from time to time ; there are no other visual art exhibition spaces in Oran and in the region for that matter .
Murray : Similarly to the early days of the Venice Biennale , I noticed that the biennial in Oran included a selection of invited artists , open call artists selected from around the world , and emerging Algerian artists . Is this the way that the selection was made in the past or was it a new combination this year ? Was there a particular reason why you made the grouping this way this time ?
Ali Chaouche : Concerning the selection of artists , this year , we opted to have three invited Algerian artists who have been recognized recently for their creative productions and their diverse exhibitions across Algeria and abroad . The other artists who were chosen represent all the different cities of Algeria , and some of the Mediterranean countries . We accepted some countries outside of the Mediterranean region because of their relationship to the theme of exodus .
Murray : Sadek , what was your major role as a curator in this exhibition ? I understand that you worked with several of the young artists helping them to develop their ideas , what can you share with us about this experience ? In the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice , they paired more established artists with emerging artists to help build and support the younger artists and their careers . Do you think this combination will be a new trend in biennial exhibitions ? How do you see what you did in relation to the pairing of artists in the Diaspora Pavilion ? As an established artist yourself , were you acting as curator and mentor to these young artists ?
Rahim : What David A . Bailey and Jessica Taylor have done , as curators of the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice , and which is very interesting , is to create a pavilion structured as a project . They had the great idea to put out an open call for emerging British artists of various backgrounds in 2016 . These young artists had not only to work for projects for the biennial but also a 2-year agenda of mentoring and support by a group of established art-
63