The Palais des Raïs (Bastion 23) currently houses a very beautiful exhibition available in different genres and mediums. The “Forgotten of History” exhibition organized by Babzman “is a historical, artistic and literary exhibition dedicated to the contribution of women in Algerian history” we read on the facebook page of the event. And to add: “The exhibition aims to restore the largely underestimated contribution of women to armed, popular and cultural resistance. Making the history of women visible means re-establishing the story of half of humanity, which has remained in the shadows and forgotten for centuries ”, specify the organizers …
The artistic aspect is the prerogative of the painter Fatma-Zohra Bouaouni who presents ten paintings of different formats, under the title “The guardians of the temple”. Declined in a semi-abstract style, the painting of this talented artist exudes colors and freshness.
The woman and the space are the driving force of her work. It sounds like cubism, but not that.
Algerian women and resistance
The women represented bathe in open or sometimes closed spaces. Veiled or unveiled, beautiful and sensual, these women breathe freedom and serenity. These women evolve as in a paradise, in a familiar space which recalls our heritage, like the “ouast el dar or the Casbah.
The historical part, for its part, addresses resistance in the feminine. 35 biographies called “Women in history” are to be discovered. They are the result of research by Babzman, whose founder is historian Mira Gacem. The latter has chosen to highlight, first of all, women in the Algerian revolution. Arranged on easels, these portraits between photos, drawings or paintings are accompanied by the biography of each of these women. The journey of each woman is traced with fidelity. Among them, we can cite Dihya, Fadhma N’soumer, Clotilde Bidet, Hassina Ben Bouali, Baya Hocine, Samia Lakhdari, Zoulikha Oudai, Zohra Drif, Djamila Bouhired, Yasmine Belkacem, Louisa Ighilahriz, Lucette Hadj Ali, Annie Florio Steiner, Fatima EL Moussaoui, Kheira Belgaïd, Djamila Boupacha, Fatima Ouzegane, Ourida Meddad in particular.
A second part of the historical section is dedicated, this time, to women “martyrs of the black decade”. Among these women we note the names of Nabila Djahnine, Rachida and Houria Hammadi, Amel Zenoune Zouani, Katia Bengana etc … Babzman thus presents extracts from the booklet “Takhirna” so that no one forgets.
The book brings together the journeys of many exceptional women in order to pay homage to them and to integrate them into the historical narrative often marked by the leap of the masculine. Note that at the entrance to Bastion 23, when you go through the right side, entering this magnificent architectural temple – built in 1576, under the order of Ramadan Bacha, in order to reinforce the defensive system on the west side of the ville-, you will discover a video “capsule” entitled “Ahkili ala zamane” which reconstitutes in archive images and reconstitution in drawings, the history of Algeria with its men and women who have marked its past until our contemporary times.
So that no one forgets
“This artistic, historical and literary event is a tribute to our grandmothers, to our mothers, to all Algerian women who have marked history through their resistance in all their forms, to art, to transmission and, more generally, to the public space. ” note on his facebook site, Amal Mihoub, the curator. The latter is visible until January 15. So not to be missed. The directions are all indicated at the entrance so as not to take the wrong path. You just have to follow the arrows!
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