Arts & International Affairs: 2.3: Autumn/Winter 2017 | Page 66

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
ists. What we wanted to do at the Mediterranean Biennial of Contemporary Art in Oran
was a bit the same, except with regard to Algeria; there is a sense of urgency, because we
are significantly behind in this area.
Figure 3: Photo credit Sadek Rahim. Camps, an installation by Djamel Benchenine 11
My curatorial work with these three young artists was such a great experience as an art-
ist and as a supporter of change in the cultural and academic programs of our country.
These artists: Islem Haouti, Nora Zaïr and Djamel Benchenine were such a good exam-
ple of what we can do to help young artists to take a step forward. Djamel Benchenine
had proposed at the end of my work with him, an installation 6/7 meters called “Camps”
a model of a Sahrawi refugee camp (Dakhla) in the city of Tindouf in Algeria. He made
the tents of this camp out of wood, originally white, but later he painted them in black,
a color that reflects the tragedy of these people’s lives. In 2016, Djamel was invited as
an artist to The International Film Festival of Western Sahara (Fisahara 12 ), which takes
place at this camp among others and also, simultaneously, in Madrid, allowing for a great-
er number of personalities from the world of Spanish cinema culture as well as Spanish
citizens sympathizing with the Saharawi cause, and to the public in general, to attend and
to inquire about the situation of the Saharawi refugees.
11
12
https://www.facebook.com/bnchnart/
http://fisahara.es/?lang=en
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