El Djazair 2003, Algeria year in France
by Sabrina Hadjadj Aoul

    Reconciliation and Polemics through Arts between the Two Banks of the Mediterranean.

2003 is a key year for French-Algerian relations. In April, for the very first time since Algeria’s independence from its former colonizer in 1962 following a bloody long war lasting eight years, French President Jacques Chirac officially visited his Algerian counterpart, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

In the framework of the well-established French tradition of welcoming foreign cultures on its soil, the Year of Algeria in France was set to consecrate the reconciliation and newly established mutual agreement between the two countries. Indeed, since 1985 France annually celebrates foreign cultures and artists within a program titled Foreign Seasons/Saisons Etrangeres and since 1992 official French foreign and cultural offices have showed an unexpected number of cultural programs focusing on Arab countries. In 1994-95 Tunisia was the focus of Foreign Seasons/Saisons Etrangeres, followed by Palestine and Jordan in 1997, Egypt in 1998 and finally Morocco in 1999.

Although Algeria is perhaps the Arab nation with the strongest historical, political and cultural ties with France, as more than five million Algerians now live in France, Algerian culture was chosen for celebration only this year. El Djaza’ir 2003, namely Algeria’s Year in France, has therefore a particular meaning for both French and Algerians, specifically in the current climate of both French and Algerian politics. The surprising success of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s extreme right-wing party at the first round of the May 2002 French presidential elections, to the detriment of the strongly rooted French Socialist party, raised the anxiety of the French Muslim and Algerian community, targeted as the scapegoat of the growing insecurity and the failing French economy. Algeria, on the other hand, has had a hard time changing the fundamentalist and terrorist lenses through which Europe and particularly France perceives the country after more than 10 years of a destructive civil war. The global environment worldwide after the dramatic events of 9/11 and the following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has not helped to improve this perception.

The content of El Djaza’ir 2003 is as diverse as the meaning of the name of the country. Algeria in Arabic is a word that designates both the country and its capital, as well as signifies “ the Islands” which surround the Algiers Port. El Djaza’ir expresses the depth of Algerian history, its cultural diversity, and Algeria’s central location in the Mediterranean where multiple civilizations and influences have and continue to encounter each other, all nurturing Algerian art as can be seen in El Djaza’ir 2003.

Within the framework of this special year devoted to Algeria, the Arab World Institute in Paris (Istitut du Monde Arabe, or IMA) has organized six exhibitions and numerous events to present the different facets of Algerian culture, including the art exhibition Algeria as seen by Painters, from Delacroix to Renoir. This exhibition presents French 19th century painters, particularly Delacroix, Fromentin, Chasseriau and Renoir, whose travels to Algeria left their mark on their work as well as on Algerian art and history and underline the diversity of its heritage from antiquity to the Arab conquest in the 7th century. In parallel to this and other exhibitions focusing on sociology, design and photography, the IMA has also programmed a series of musical events featuring the rich musical traditions in this vast country, displays of theatre and dance, a six-month long program showcasing Algerian cinema, including films made by young Algerian immigrants. Finally, the Euro-Arab book fair organized by the IMA in May 2003 in Paris paid special tribute to Algerian literary production.
These and other El Djaza’ir 2003 events presented throughout France this year have all generated much interest thanks to the exposure given to Algerian artists in fields as diverse and eclectic as music, literature, theatre, cinema and painting. The events further serve to highlight the multiplicity of sources that have shaped Algerian culture, mingling French influences, Arab civilization and Kabyle traditions, a Berber ethnic minority represents about 15% of Algeria’s predominantly Arab population.

At the same time, El Djaza’ir 2003 has also provoked conflicts and debates, specifically within the Algerian community, regarding the way in which the Algerian and French governments have handled the events. Some Algerian artists invited by the French Minister of Culture to present their work chose to boycott the concerts or exhibitions in order to protest against the Algerian government’s suppression of free artistic expression and its neglect to build a sufficient infrastructure to efficiently promote Algerian culture in France and around the world. Moreover, a significant number of Algerian artists voiced their opposition to the under-representation of the Kabyle community in Algeria by refusing to attend certain events, demonstrating how culture and art, once again, serves as an instrument to express the frustrations of Algerians today. Despite the challenges and drawbacks of El Djaza’ir 2003, this event, however, still offers a cultural bridge and an important opportunity for the representation of Algerian art in Europe today.

For a listing of cultural and artistic events of El Djaza’ir 2003, Algeria’s Year in France, visit http://www.djazair2003.org/. The site is in French, Arabic and Amazigh

To learn more about exhibitions and events organized by the Arab World Institute in Paris (IMA) relating to Djaza’ir 2003, Algeria’s Year in France, please visit http://www.imarabe.org/ang/calendrier/annee-algerie.html. The site is in English and French.