The fifth edition of the SEE DJERBA light and media art festival took place in south Tunisia in September 2024. The decentralized exhibition project in Houmt Souk showcased contemporary art in dialogue with the natural and cultural heritage of the island of Djerba. Artists from Tunisia, the North African region, and Europe participated.

In Houmt Souk

Houmt Souk, or the market district, is the main town on the island, with a population of 65,000. It is one of the most critical crossroads of the historic traffic and settlement structure, and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2017, the first edition was made possible by an initiative of the international light art project INTERFERENCE from Tunis. With various cultural and environmental initiatives and many volunteers, contemporary art was shown on the streets of Houmt Souk. Numerous enthusiastic audiences reviewed it.

Light as material and medium

Landscapes, settlement forms, and architecture, as they have developed over thousands of years under the special conditions of the island, have become a canvas for contemporary artists. They all worked with light or light-based media as an artistic material or medium. The spectrum ranged from installations that work with light and shadow to light drawings in photography and film to the light-based images of digital media. They showed the transformative power of light in perception and imaging and reflected light as the iconographic medium of the 21st century.

In historical settings

This year, 24 artistic positions were on display, including the streets of the medina and in typical building ensembles such as the Fondouk Ben Ghorbel, one of the many former caravanserais. The venues included the castle, built at the end of the 14th century over the ruins of the ancient Roman Griba, and the Museum of Cultural Heritage. For the first time, the “Sidi Bou Hjar” building complex, home to various non-profit organizations, became part of the exhibition trail. Organizations such as “Djerba Insolite” and “ASSIDJE”, are dedicated to protecting and further developing the island’s natural and cultural heritage, creating space for art interventions. The broad network allowed artists to choose between different environments to implement their projects. All art projects were either developed to fit or adapted on-site.

On contemporary topics

Djerba has many initiatives and institutions committed to natural and cultural heritage, but only a few places exist for contemporary art. One of the few is the internationally renowned “Djerbahood,” a graffiti project by the French gallery “Itinerrance.” In 2014, it took place in Erriadh; its traces can still be seen today, and it has become part of the tourist offer.

SEE DJERBA is made by and for locals. It focuses on new forms of artistic expression that have developed in digitalization and shows them in dialogue with historically evolved environments — but exclusively with temporary interventions that can be removed without a trace after the festival. SEE DJERBA’s conceptual anchor points are its commitment to contemporary art, art in public spaces, and artistic approaches that address current social issues through art.

Exploring new media

Unlike last year, there was no open call this year; instead, all artists were selected by the curatorial collective and invited to participate. The curatorial collective could choose artists for new projects whose conceptual approaches and working methods suit the latest projects. Cooperation with the LUNA Media Art Festival in Leeuwarden and the University of the Arts in Bremen complemented the extensive exhibition program.

The artistic contributions of the YOUNG MASTERS were created as part of a light art lab that was realized in Gabes together with the organization Dancers Citoyens South. South-South cooperations, which consider the characteristics of the Tunisian south in contrast to the capital, Tunis, are today pacemakers for sustainable, regional cultural development.

Addressing ecological urgencies

With its array of artistic approaches, SEE DJERBA 2024 thematized the urgent environmental challenges facing the island and the Mediterranean region. Due to climate change, population growth, and tourism demand, Djerba struggles with increasing water stress. The recent introduction of desalination plants alleviates the immediate water shortage but raises questions about energy consumption and long-term sustainability. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean is increasingly threatened by pollution, including plastic waste, chemical effluents, and microplastics. These problems threaten marine ecosystems and impact the livelihoods of coastal communities and the quality of life on the island.

Examples of artwork on display are those by Ghassen Chraifa, who documented the disappearance of the Kerkennah Islands in northern Djerba, and Zeineb Kaabi’s large-scale projection, which visualized the predictions of the ecological impact of desalination plants. With their local and specialist knowledge, the artists developed a new island cartography featuring sustainable and regenerative developments. Workshops that deepen the content of the exhibition project are an essential part of the festival program. The German Heinrich Böll Foundation has supported the project community since 2017 and contributed workshops on the water crisis, climate justice, and social commons. Art educators accompanied the audience. They assisted the artists during the installation process and provided information on each installation’s concept, technique, location, and theme.

Featuring water and salt

Each edition of SEE DJERBA has a dedicated focus. This year’s leitmotif followed last year’s when water was thematized as a natural and cultural heritage. In 2024, in addition, salt, as a material, a resource, an environmental reagent, and a symbolic substance, was included because the sea’s saltwater and ancient salt lakes close to the island are geographical features that impact Djerba’s identity, culture, and heritage. This year’s artwork development was dedicated to research and experimentation of an often overlooked component in nature and culture. Artists explored its esthetic qualities, ecological interactions, use in daily life, and traces in cultural history.

Examples of artwork on display are the site-specific intervention by Ilona Karacsony and Karoline Ketelhake based on the interplay of light, heat, and saltwater, the video work by Maaike Meindertsma walking on the local salt lake or the spatial light and video intervention by Couz (Achref Guesmi), who investigated the relevance of salt in Indigenous cultures.

Changing viewpoints

SEE DJERBA enables a change of perspective. The great success with the audience, the large number of artists, and the wide range of artistic working methods make the festival suitable for continuing. The dedicated community transforms Houmt’s historical framework into a hospitable environment for contemporary artists and audiences. A unique atmosphere emerges from juxtaposing natural and cultural heritage with the latest technologies and new media. From urban settings to natural landscapes and intangible cultural traditions, these artworks demonstrate the delicate balance between heritage care and innovational changes. They reimagine these spaces without compromising their historical value. Each project offered a fresh perspective on how heritage sites can evolve and remain relevant in present and future times. The next edition is planned for August 2024.

Maaike Meindertsma: The video footage was recorded at a salt lake near Djerba and in the Dutch Wadden Sea.

Couz: A multi-part installation that addressed the importance of salt in the region’s indigenous cultures.

Yassine Thabet: The large-format projection was based on microscopic observations of salt solutions.

Ghassen Chraifa: An artistic documentation on the Kerkennah island that will be soon be swallowed by the sea.

Josefine Beste: Process-based installation that visualized associations with the traditional washing of wool in seawater.

Hiuyan Lee: Prosse-based installation of shaping melting ice by sound and light.

Dorra Hichri: The projection, in the form of a petri dish, showed the residues of dried water from various regions around the Mediterranean. Using polarizing filters, they were read out as color compositions.

Ilona Karácsony, Karoline Ketelhake: The site-specific installation documented the formation of crystalline forms when salt water dries up.

Nyzuz: A light and shadow installation based on microscopic salt structures.

Anne Fie Salverda: The interplay of an object made of plastic waste and projected animations.

Zeineb Kaabi: A speculative animation based on scientific research into the ecological impact of desalination plants.

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