Les Ateliers Sauvages: A Wild Space for Contemporary Art in Algeria
There are quite a few interesting artistic spaces in Algeria, but none as much as Les Ateliers Sauvages (The wild workshop) founded in 2015 in Algiers. With a name that evokes opposition to the mainstream, mirrors the artists who have taken turns to create and exhibit inside its walls, and fulfills the desires of its founder—the author Wassyla Tamzali, who has been a longtime fighter for culture in the country—this space has quickly become synonymous with contemporary art in Algeria.
Tamzali had the idea for workshops when she hosted a group of young artists in her home for private exhibitions. She recalls how her adventure began: “I came back to live in Algeria after my work with UNESCO in 2002, in the aftermath of the civil war that still inhabited the memories of everyone. The election results had divided the country in two, and the normal daily life of our society had been interrupted by violence, fear, and the brutal collapse of utopian democracy. A disillusioned group of youth turned their back on politics, inventing a way of thinking.” Tamzali compares these new artists to wildflowers heralding a revival in the country.
In its outer appearance, Les Ateliers Sauvages may go unnoticed by unsuspecting passersby. The space, situated in the middle of the city, was a large colonial warehouse, and its structure is made of Eiffel’s beams, making Tamzali’s act of buying and transforming the warehouse into a lively Algerian space of culture a reappropriation of the colonial past, as she describes it. At the same time, it was a way of giving this singular beauty back to Algiers.
It has now come to stand as a refuge to many artists—among them, Mounir Goumi, Lamine Sakri, Ryma Rezaiguia. These artists share in common their experimental artistic approaches, their mastery of multiple artistic disciplines, and their desire to shed constraints in their creations. They come from the underground, from the streets, from all over Algeria, and from beyond the borders. Tamzali came to uncover the editorial line she’d follow in choosing the artists for residencies and exhibition, favoring those who have contemporary projects and are ambitious and can work within a team with other artists. It was their difficulty to find a place to work that motivated her to open the workshops: “When I launched Les Ateliers Sauvages, it was at the request of my niece Fella Tamzali, a visual artist, to receive a group of artist friends after a private exhibition at my place. I got to know this group of artists and learned that it was difficult for Algerian artists to find a space to work. That’s why I opened Les Ateliers Sauvages, a space for creation more than exhibition.”
Les Ateliers Sauvages has grown so much over the past few years, in spite of the protests and the pandemic that shook Algeria and the world. Within its atypical walls, it keeps on hosting talks, cinematic projections, musical shows, dance performances, art and photography exhibitions, and residencies for artists such as Rima Djahnine, Muriel Toulemonde, Anne de Giafferri, Christian Delecluse, and many more. And it keeps on being a wild but beautiful space, vital for the artists and the public alike.
