An information day devoted to resource mobilization for cultural and creative industries as well as the marathon of plays marked the first day of the 20th edition of the Carthage Theater Days.
Many Tunisian cultural actors were present to attend a conference on resource mobilization for the cultural and creative industries. There is no need here to recall the ever-growing role played by culture in Arab society. A fundamental role insofar as it puts a stop to all forms of obscurantism or retrograde thinking and contributes to the education of future generations. The arts and culture thus allow as many people as possible to become acquainted with universal notions, such as tolerance, individual freedom, forgiveness, dialogue …
Specialists in culture, law and accounting
For this 20th edition, the JTC renew for the second time their partnership with Culture Funding Watch to support the dissemination of information on resource mobilization for cultural and creative industries in the MENA region. As recalled by the organizers of this highly anticipated event, information on the financing of the cultural and creative industries remains generally scattered, even inaccessible. As such, this symposium is not only an exceptional opportunity to reflect on existing funding mechanisms for cultural and creative projects in the region, but it is also an opportunity to learn about available funding opportunities and to meet national donors. and international.
JTC and Culture Funding Watch
Wafa Belgacem, Executive Director of Culture Funding Watch, kicks off the conference. She will be the mediator of this symposium which brings a new light to various current topics relating to the world of culture and its financing. After welcoming the guests and presenting the outline of this meeting, she gives the floor to Mouadh Mhiri, chartered accountant, and Chiheb Ghazouani, lawyer and president of the Tunisian Startups Association, who will return to the “Cultural Patronage the Startup Act”. Tunisia: state of play ». The legal recognition of patronage going back to 2015, it was natural to put an end to certain misconceptions that the tax administration is afraid of culture and the limit to an act of mismanagement. And with the new finance law, creative cultural industries are among the priority cultural activities and one can now make a living from culture as is the case in Kenya, Nigeria or Turkey. Especially since the investment fund can now and in a “more concrete” way to make money for companies. As one of the speakers reminded us, for the first time at the Ministry of Culture, an objective and objective budget was voted, giving pride of place to the arts, books and culture, cultural action and Heritage.
Meet the donors
The guests met in turn with the representatives of the invited foundations:
Donia Slama from the Kamel-Lazaâr Foundation, playwright and actress Leila Toubel, director Dream’s Chebeb, Salma Baghdadi from the Biat Foundation, Sandra Grziwa from the European Cultural Foundation, Molka Haj Salem from the Rambourg Foundation, Heba El-Kholi from Lotfia Rabbani Foundation, Hajer Trabelsi from the Fondation de France and finally Hazar Hichri from Europe Creative Desk. The conference was a great opportunity to see specialists in culture, law and accounting exchange and share. Encouraging.
“Ur” by Suleiman Al Bassem
The German-Kuwaiti play “Ur” by Suleiman Al Bassem was performed the day before yesterday at the Cité de la culture. A hypnotic, contemplative creation and a true hymn to life.
The creation of Suleiman Al Bassem denounces all the abuses committed in Iraq throughout its existence. Whether the wars declared by the elamite invaders, the massacres committed by the English troops or more recently by the US military or terrorist group Daesh. And yet, this land, like Africa, is the cradle of humanity. Tradition has it that even when Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, the first country they walk on is Mesopotamia. Noah’s ark itself was inspired by the epic of Gilgamesh and long before Moses received the ten commandments, Hammurabi wrote his famous code on large steles. The German playwright of Kuwaiti origin Suleiman Al Bassem has repeatedly reminded and seems to have forgiven those who ruined this land (forgiveness is also central to his thinking. by the troops of Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War), but it does not seem to have forgotten this lost paradise. On the contrary, since it is a real work of memory to which he gives himself. Sumer or about 3,300 BC occurs “The” urban revolution with the appearance of many cities with a hierarchical social organization dominated by a priest-king as is the case with “Ur”.
The room includes many flashbacks and the viewer is teleported. In 2000 before the Christian era, the eve of the destruction of the city by the Elamites, then in 1903 when German archaeologists perform excavations, but also in 2015 during the brief but destructive passage of Daesh and finally in 2035 in a near future where procreation is punishable by death but where the inhabitants live in skyscrapers. The playwright also seems to devote boundless fascination to his main character, in this case the goddess Ningal and his libertine reign. A regent who opened the gates of the city and called for a free intellectual and erotic exchange, thus defying his father the god Enlil. Like these German archaeologists, the spectator sees himself playing the actions at the origin of the “lamentations on the destruction of Ur”, a famous text written towards the second millennium BC. J.-C where she mourns the destruction of Ur ordained by the god Enlil.
The staging is very inventive and manages to capture the attention throughout the two hours of the performance. The public, disposed on both sides of the stage, witnesses dumbfounded to this deployment of techniques and means, quite unusual it must be recognized, contributing to its total immersion. A decor with modern architecture highlighted by a subtle play of light. The projectors reveal each detail and the audience even manages to distinguish the cuneiform writing tablets that the protagonists hold in hand. Actors seven in number invested in their work, speaking in Arabic and German and literally appropriating the scene. As for the costumes, they seem made by renowned couturiers for a piece that we would like to play more often, even outside the JTC. A success.