Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

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Country-Specific Information
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GENERAL INFORMATION
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Tunisia is both the smallest and the northernmost
country of North Africa, with a long history as
a meeting point of cultures and civilizations.
Its first inhabitants are the Amazigh. Since the
12th century BC, it has known several waves of
occupation and immigration, beginning with the
Phoenicians and followed by the Romans, the
Muslims, the Ottomans and the French. Tunisia
became independent in 1956.
The country’s recent history has been
profoundly shaped by the Revolution of 2011, an
intensive campaign of civil protest and resistance
that led to the resignation and flight of dictator
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 and the institution
of free elections in 2014. The self-immolation of
Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouizid
on December 17, 2010 is widely regarded as
the spark for the region-wide wave of protests
referred to as the Arab Spring.
Today, Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential
representative democratic republic. Since independence,
Tunisia has had a policy of cultivating
close foreign relations with Europe, in particular
with France and Italy. Today, the European Union
is Tunisia’s first trading partner and conversely,
Tunisia is one of the EU’s top trading partners in
the region. Tunisia is included in the European
Union’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP),
which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours
closer. It has been favoured by European external
cooperation initiatives in (North) Africa since
2011, namely in the field of culture (see below).
Tunisia has also played an active role in
African and regional organizations. It is a member
of the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League
and the African Union (among other international
bodies). Diplomatic relations with fellow Maghreb
nations Morocco and Algeria have historically
been strong. Trade is currently increasing with
Morocco. Relations with Libya have been more
erratic, but have become essential in recent
years as Tunisia works to support reconciliation
between opposing factions in Libya and keeps
its borders open to Libyans.
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Before it was named Tunisia, the territory’s
name was Ifriqiya (or Africa), giving the presentday
name of the continent Africa. Tunisia’s diplomatic
and economic policies towards the rest
of the continent have been more limited than
neighbouring countries such as Morocco and
Algeria, although Tunisia’s Ministry of Economy
recently launched an investment fund for Africa.
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QUOTE:
[…] We’re now discovering that no, as a matter of
fact, in Tunisia there are black people, there are other
types of cultures, there are musical traditions, that are
steeped in Africanity. There is a growing consciousness
around Berberity, Africanity, that is part of this
postcolonial unmooring. The question today is how to
link these “identitary” constructions with economic
and political considerations; how to link questions of
belonging to questions of class and domination.
Many youth want to emancipate themselves from
colonial domination.
It seems to me that it may be important to think of
a sort of Arab-pan-Africanism. The colonial spirit
sought to divide the “indigènes” through systems of
hierarchization, but it’s important today to pay attention
to what is happening at the linguistic and cultural
levels and to young people’s choices in their forms of
expression. We shouldn’t speak in their place nor take
away their voices, but listen to them. »
Mariem Guellouz
Dancer and researcher, Director of Les Journées
chorégraphiques de Carthage,
Tunis / Paris*
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