Like promised, here I am psyched up to share my long-awaited Chouftouhonna experience with you.🙌For those who dont know, Chouftouhonna is the International Feminist Art Festival of Tunis and this year happens to be the festival's fourth edition! It has always been a dream for me to share the same exhibition room with artists! So, you can imagine how exhilarated and lucky I felt, for being selected and for getting the opportunity to expose my artwork in the National Theater of Tunisia, next to gripping masterpieces made by professional artists and gifted art hobbyists!
Although, I am far from being a green activist and I wouldn't call myself a feminist, but rather a pro-feminist, I reckon there were two major prefestival announcements that made this edition a special one! As you can tell, the early announcement was about collaborating with the "ZERO WASTE Tunisia" organization, which promotes environmentalism and making the event an eco-friendly celebration. The second announcement came a bit late. It declared the organizing committee's official decision to finally eliminate the usual competition between participants, because it is clearly against the spirit of sisterhood and feminism! This particular annoucement push me to reservedly suggest overlooking the selection process next year and making the festival's fifth edition even more generous and inclusive! 😅 Yes, probably, that is too much to ask for, in view of the fact that quality is more important than quantity!
I am neither a wallflower nor a social animal, but admittedly, getting out of my confort zone was challenging! Certainly, my admiration for feminists and artists, as well as my unfaltering love for art and my growing need for muse made it possible for me to not feel alienated and to actually enjoy my time, in the hectic conservative neighborhood, where the festival took place! I have even managed to freeze the usual self-consciousness about my own appearance for few minutes 😆 and I ended up talking in front of the Sardinian artist Cladinè Curreli's camera, for an interview about "feminism and why we need it?"!
The National theater turned into a melting pot .. a cloister garth full of wide and hybrid flowers! It was the right place to be, for someone like me, who is in a constant and a desperate need for both inspiration and hope. My eyes had enough of the strict conventional dress code! The daring outfits and the gamine pixie-cut hairstyles and the expressive tattoos were simply and exactly what I felt like seeing. By the way, a special thanks should be given to the talented tattoo female artists and the hairdesser who enriched this picturesque view, in situ! Besides, the majority of the exposed artworks were non-traditional, bold and intriguing, which made it easier for me to miss some really interesting lectures, in order to take part in the "Surrealist writing and drawing" workshop! The atelier was animated subtly and smoothly by the talented Tunisian artist "Bochra Taboubi", who also exposed her "Abysse" masterpiece in the same room as me, during the festival. This engaging activity was such a needed refreshing boost to feel like producing more artworks, in the days to come! Most probably surrealistic drawings! The compliments of art lovers and the encouragements of artists were also boosting! I hope I will live up to their expectations!
The live theatre and dance shows as well as the reading sessions were not less inspiring and entertaining! The talented artists were able to strike the audience with their electrifying performances and to successfully convey a myriad of intense emotions like confusion, yearning, self-liberation and queer love! The festival offered many other shows and workshops. And let's not forget the "Time's up" Chouftouhonna late parties, which were publicized mostly to support the #me_too movement, by inviting feminists and profeminists to enjoy the nightlife, with the female DJs, without fear of the Tunisian public prejudice against women who go to nightclubs.
Witnessing the diversity and the courage of feminists inside and outside the theater was heart-warming. It helped me ignore the constant penetrating gazes of Tunisian men and overcome the angry comment of a veiled stranger in front of the theater, ordering me to cover my legs! No wonder why the organizing committee picked this place to be overrun by feminist artists! 🤣 Actually, the "men-only" café and the small public park in front of the national theater were invaded by women! And to splendidly mark the end of the festive days in a Tunisian style, artists reclaimed the streets with ululations and drum beats.
I am undoubtedly not regretting cancelling some of my plans in order to be present at the festival earlier than expected! But, honestly, I would have appreciated receiving an early detailed plan! That could have spared me many troubles! There was also another frustrating thing that could have been avoided and should have been fixed, because it has something to do with the festival-goers' health! The organizing comittee shouldn't have made us put up with a hellish weather in small non air-conditioned and poorly equipped rooms. Yes, it was supposed to be an eco-friendly festival edition but the heat of the Tunisian September days is hard for locals, let alone, for people who come from cold countries! Bottom line, a rich festival content deserves better conditions to celebrate it! Obviously, we can't expect the poor Tunisian governement, at the current moment, to spend more money on culture, and more specifically on the theater! So, I guess the solutions are the following: Moving the festival to a colder season and finding more sponsors and donators who are willing and ready to invest money in culture and women empowerment! More volunteers are also needed for optimization!
At the end, I want to thank the current sponsors! I imagine, this festival would have not been possible without them! I also want to thank the organizers for their patience and dedication and I hope they will stay open-minded and accept my criticism that I expressed in the hope for a more pleasant and a more satisfying experience for everyone. 💕
