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Tunisian artists

27 artists

Tunisia sits on one of the oldest crossroads of art in the Mediterranean: Carthaginian and Roman cities, some of the finest Roman mosaics anywhere (many now in the Bardo Museum in Tunis), and the mosques, ceramics and textiles of Kairouan and the medinas. Modern Tunisian painting began with Yahia Turki, often called its father, who painted the streets and people of Tunis from the 1920s.

In 1949 a group of painters gathered as the École de Tunis; over the years its members included Yahia Turki, Ammar Farhat, Abdelaziz Gorgi, Hatem El Mekki and Zoubeir Turki, whose bronze Ibn Khaldoun stands on Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Later artists turned to abstraction and script: Néjib Belkhodja built cityscapes from geometry, and Nja Mahdaoui made Arabic letters into pure visual rhythm. Today the list includes Nadia Kaabi-Linke and the French-Tunisian calligraffiti artist eL Seed. This list brings together Tunisia's artists with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first. See also Tunisian painters and North Africa.

Profiles

Painter and sculptor

Zoubeir Turki

Tunisia · 1924–2009

Zoubeir Turki, a member of the École de Tunis, drew the everyday life of Tunis and made the bronze statue of Ibn Khaldoun on Avenue Habib Bourguiba.

Calligraffiti artist

eL Seed

Tunisia · 1981–

eL Seed, a French-Tunisian artist, paints Arabic calligraphy on a monumental scale, from a mosque minaret in Gabès to Perception, across 50 buildings in Cairo.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits