The Zaha Hadid Foundation presents Younès Ben Slimane’s first solo exhibition in the UK, Images de Tunisie,which is open until 29 June 2024.
Younès Ben Slimane is a Tunisian artist and filmmaker based in Paris, France. Initially trained as an architect, he uses the camera as a tool to capture the ‘spirit of places.’ ZHF commissioned Ben Slimane to research and create new work that relates to cultural hybridity and interdisciplinarity in architecture and the built environment. The exhibition brings together three of his films exploring the meaning of images and architectural legacies in Tunisia. It includes Images de Tunisie (2024), a newly commissioned film by ZHF.
Images de Tunisie is an intimate portrayal of Tunisia’s architectural landscape and its atmospheres, memories and traditions. It appropriates ethnographic documentaries on architecture and rural life in Tunisia, sourced from France’s national audiovisual archive (INA). Scenes from 1940s newsreels produced by Les Actualités Françaises are combined with new footage from the same sites, including Matmata, Douiret and Tameghza.
The exhibition also features Parallel (2018), which presents the interplay between steam and natural light inside of the interior of a hammam in Hammamet, where the first public baths in the city were built by the Romans, and All Come From Dust (2019), an exploration into the preservation of the craftmanship of bricklaying in Tozeur, where Ben Slimane’s ancestors lived and worked.
The exhibition is on now, and runs until the 29th of June 2024. The gallery is open Tues-Fri 10am-6pm and Sat 12pm-6pm.
Zaha Hadid Foundation, 10 Bowling Green Ln, London EC1R 0BQ.
