Béchir Boussandel’s exhibition “ Tenté par d’autres soleils ” opens to the public at Centre d’art B7L9, from January 23 to March 30, 2025 – Bhar Lazreg.
The opening will be followed by an exclusive concert by artist Amaka Jaji, who will present his new album “Tidet”, at 8 pm on the B7L9 rooftop.
Today sees the opening of “ Tenté par d’autres soleils” at the Centre d’art B7L9 in Bhar Lazreg, an original presentation of the work of Franco-Tunisian artist Béchir Boussandel. The artist’s first solo exhibition in Tunisia, this artistic proposal strikes a delicate balance between aesthetic commitment, environmental reflection and intimate exploration. Until March 30, 2025, the public is invited to discover a work beyond simple contemplation to question the link between man, his environment and his heritage.
The artist and his roots as a North-South link
A French Tunisian from a family originally from Bizerte, Béchir Boussandel graduated from the Beaux-Arts de Dunkerque art school and began his artistic career with installations before turning to free, inventive painting. His work explores the tensions and exchanges between two worlds: the intimate and the collective, the fixed and the moving, the past and the present.
These themes find a particular echo in this exhibition. Inspired by the land of his childhood, Boussandel infuses his works with a constant dialogue of water, light, and movement. As part of his creative process, his canvases are immersed in water on the rooftops of Bizerte, a practice that symbolizes the organic link between the artist and his environment.
An exhibition at the crossroads of disciplines
“‘Tenté par d’autres soleils” brings together works that combine paint, blown glass, metal and organic materials. The exhibition is conceived as a sensory experience in which each material, form and colour contributes to an overall narrative.
At the heart of the exhibition, a monumental installation immediately catches the eye. Anchored to the floor, blown-glass sculptures spread out across the space like perches, adorned with bird silhouettes in metal – brass, copper and aluminium.
This work, both pure and charged with meaning, questions notions of flight and rootedness. Birds, recurring figures in the collective imagination, evoke human trajectories confronted with fragile, unpredictable environments.
Boussandel’s choice of materials is never insignificant. Glass, with its transparency and fragility, becomes a metaphor for contemporary ecological challenges, while metal, robust yet malleable, expresses adaptability and resilience.
Open-minded reflection on the issues of our time
Far from being a purely aesthetic work, this exhibition invites deep reflection on current issues. Mobility, precariousness and the impact of consumerism on the environment are at the heart of the artist’s discourse. Through his art, Boussandel questions how we inhabit the world, interact with our space and, above all, strike a fragile balance between nature and urbanity.
The very title of the exhibition, “ Tenté par d’autres soleils”, evokes both a quest for elsewhere and a need for renewal. These “other suns” are both horizons to explore and challenges to take up, whether personal or collective.
Remarkable encounter between handicraft and innovation
The exhibition also bears witness to an exemplary synergy between tradition and innovation. The brass, copper and aluminium birds were created in collaboration with the Centre de Formation aux Arts du Feu de Nabeul, under the direction of Sofiane Ben Amor. This partnership between the artist and local craftsmen underlines the importance of traditional know-how in a contemporary context. The result is a work that is both rooted in local practices and oriented towards universal perspectives.
A growing international career
For those lucky enough to visit “ Tenté par d’autres soleils ”, the Centre d’art B7L9 offers much more than an exhibition venue: it is increasingly asserting itself as a space for reflection, sharing and dialogue. Béchir Boussandel’s works, at once sober and evocative, captivated by their ability to speak to all, beyond borders and cultures.
At a time when the frenetic pace of everyday life sometimes distances us from the essentials, this exhibition invites us to slow down, observe and reflect. Each work, each installation, is an open door to a new way of seeing the world.
By allowing yourself to be tempted by this unique universe offered by this beautiful exhibition, everyone can find an answer to an essential question: what does it mean to be “Tenté par d’autres soleils”, and what paths can this open up in our existence?
TunisianMonitorOnline (Hassan Arfaoui – English: NejiMed)
