Sumac Space

Dialogues Exhibitions About Artists' rooms

Dialogues

+ View index
  • Calvino: Beyond The Visible—Abir Gasmi and Anna Gabai
  • Artist’s Dilemma: Authorship, Power, and Social Responsibility—Mojtaba Amini in conversation with Pariya Ferdos[se] and Davood Madadpoor
  • Agency and Quotidian Practices as Resistance Against Omission—Mitra Soltani in conversation with Pariya Ferdos[se] and Davood Madadpoor
  • Mind or Mend the Gap merges into Listening into Hope
  • Transversal: Commons Tense & Antihegemonial Tactics—Fatih Aydoğdu
  • Zahra Zeinali: au-delà—Hamidreza Karami
  • Zahra Zeinali:au-delà—Zahra Zeinali in Conversation with Davood Madadpoor
  • Ali Eslami–On the Creation of Virtual Spaces with their own Temporality–Ali Eslami in conversation with Katharina Ehrl and Davood Madadpoor
  • The Tellers Symposium [Audio/Video Recordings]
  • And We Remain Silent for a While—Akram Ahmadi Tavana
  • On Seeing, Searching, and the Book “Let My Eyes Have a Glimpse of You”—Sara Sallam
  • The New Gods—Omar Houssien in Conversation with Srđan Tunić
  • Frames Cracked by Lines of Doubt—A Trialogue
  • Of Cities and Private Living Rooms—Huda Takriti in Conversation with Huda Takriti
  • Between Research, Perspectives, and Artworks—Ahoo Maher in Conversation with Farzaneh Abdoli
  • Plants, Language and Politics—Alaa Abu Asad in Conversation with Victoria DeBlassie
  • Interwoven Drawings. On Storytelling, Body Images and the Uncertainties of History—Azita Moradkhani in Conversation with Niklas Wolf
  • On Ongoing–A Series of Five Artist Conversations [Video Recordings]
  • Poetic Repetitions Towards an Affirmation of Existence—Jafra Abu Zoulouf in Conversation with Aline Lenzhofer
  • I Grow My Own Peace in a World of Utter Alienation—Joana Kohen in Conversation with Ruba Al-Sweel
  • Living in the Moment Post-Cinematically—Parisa Aminolahi in Conversation with Adela Lovric
  • History/Image: National Memory Beyond Nationalism—Parham Taghioff in Conversation with Milad Odabaei
  • Beneath the Surface—Navid Azimi Sajadi in Conversation with Ofelia Sisca
  • The Semantic Diversity of Material—Nilbar Güreş in Conversation with Sırma Zaimoğlu
  • Mirroring the Real—Elmira Abolhassani in Conversation with David Revés
  • A Garden of Tongues—Camila Salame in Conversation with Zahra Zeinali
  • Painting as Thinking Act—Taha Heydari in Conversation with Davood Madadpoor
  • Language as Source and Subject—Christine Kettaneh in Conversation with Katharina Ehrl
  • On the Challenges of Being an Artist—Farzaneh Hosseini in Conversation with Davood Madadpoor
  • Speaking Nearby Iran—Anahita Razmi in Conversation with Laura Vetter
  • The Investigation of Material as an Archive—Benji Boyadgian in Conversation with Agnes Stillger
  • Calvino: Beyond The Visible—Abir Gasmi and Anna Gabai

    Exhibition Note

    Calvino: Beyond The Visible
    Ahmed Ben Nessib, Aymen Mbarki, Kamal Zakour, Othman Selmi, Seif Eddine Nechi, Sonia Ben Selem
    Curated by Abir Gasmi and Anna Gabai

    Organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis as part of the Calvino In Tunis Series, October 17 – November 30, 2023; Millefeuilles Bookstore, La Marsa.

    How can one interpret a story or an idea through images?

    At first, the task seems daunting and incongruous. Yet, that is precisely what we asked six artists to do: select a novel by Italo Calvino and translate it into images, even if they were unfamiliar with his work. They had to discover the author, read him, digest him, dream about him, make his stories their own, explore the hidden corners of his oeuvre, and finally, like alchemists, transform his words into drawings.

    Ahmed Ben Nessib, il cavaliere inesistente, carboncino su carta
    Ahmed Ben Nessib, Il Cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, charcoal on paper

    It is in the corners and crevices of language, in the spaces in between, where a hidden, underground narrative can be found—one that words cannot fully capture, but which images freeze, like a drop of water in the heart of winter. Calvino’s stories are full of these hidden spaces. His books are half-open doors leading to entire universes, and his sentences do what writing does best: they suggest, indicate, and conceal to reveal. His subtly, light, playful, and evocative prose transforms each reader into an imaginary illustrator.

    Othman Selmi, Il barone rampante, digital art
    Othman Selmi, Il Barone Rampante, 2023, digital

    But more than merely illustrating the text, the images in this exhibition suggest what the written word cannot say or manifest. They go beyond the visible. The result is an enchanting and kaleidoscopic exhibition where refined blacks and whites intertwine with vibrant colors, shadows dance with glimmers of light, and tiny creatures find the space we never knew they needed.

    Kamal Zakkour e Abir Gasmi, la città Spaventata (ispirato da Le città invisibili), charcoal on paper
    Kamal Zakkour and Abir Gasmi, La Città Spaventata, 2023, charcoal on paper
    Seif Eddine Nechi, Il cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, digital
    Seif Eddine Nechi, Il cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, digital

    These illustrations make us feel at home by drawing on familiar motifs and stories while illuminating new dimensions of Calvino’s prose that we had not previously considered. They transcend their role as mere complements to the text, allowing us to discover a microcosm—that of each artist—whose imagination draws from the writer’s nuances yet maintains its unique substance. The works combine two creative realities that overlap and blend surprisingly, uniting opposites in the same space: classicism and experimentation, light and darkness, color and black and white…

    Sonia Ben Salem, Favole italiane, 2023,  digital
    Sonia Ben Salem, Favole italiane, 2023, digital

    Like the Ligurian author, these artists have embarked on a journey through worlds and eras, using their talents to allow us to experience an aesthetic encounter that transcends the every day without abandoning it. Instead, it enriches it, making it more lovable and comprehensible.

    While walking through a Ligurian forest, for a brief moment, it seemed to me as though I saw Cosimo, the Baron in the Trees, dashing among the branches of oaks and chestnuts. Calvino had an extensive knowledge of plants and nature and a profound love for his Ligurian mountains, which rise steeply above the Mediterranean. He could have boarded a ship in Genoa and reached Tunis, moving from one city of alleyways and palaces to another, rich in narrow streets and grand buildings. I can picture him pausing along the avenues of Tunis to observe which trees grow there, taking a moment to cool himself beneath their canopy. During such a walk, he might have dreamed up a new invisible city—a welcoming city colored by pink and orange bougainvillea.

    In preparing for the exhibition, I read the books the artists had chosen as their sources of inspiration. At times, when I came across particularly detailed passages, I wondered how these might influence the illustrations and whether those phrases would be perceived as too restrictive. Predictably, I was proven wrong. Each artist interpreted the works through their own unique perspective.

    My curiosity to see the paintings grew weekly: What would I recognize? How would the landscape be transformed?

    We can recognize Agilulfo, the Nonexistent Knight, in Ahmed Ben Nessib’s work. He walks pensively among bats and lampposts, sleepless and full of existential doubts like Nat King Cole swearing that it will be forever when he falls in love. It is a nocturnal scene set in the dark, deserted streets of a city, which bears traces of daytime activity like the camp in the novel. Yet, the protagonist finds a way to carve out a space for meditation.

    Ahmed Ben Nessib, Il Cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, charcoal on paper
    Ahmed Ben Nessib, Il Cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, charcoal on paper

    The empty armor of the Nonexistent Knight as a metaphor for artificial intelligence—a double-edged sword of our creativity—is perfectly captured in the illustrations by Seif Eddine Nechi. Here, Agilulfo is not the sole protagonist; his squire, Gurdulù, also has a place. The artist thus manages to give form to the dichotomy at the heart of this novel: the personification of rules and discipline in contrast with instinct. The knight’s colorful plume stands out amidst the blue and white that characterize these digital illustrations and echoes the colored pencil drawing that portrays the four main characters as puppets reminiscent of Sicilian marionettes. Here, the rational Agilulfo, the impulsive Rambaldo, the passionate Bradamante, and the exuberant Gurdulù regain a classical physicality that would have been understood even at Charlemagne’s court.

    Seif Eddine Nechi, Il Cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, digital
    Seif Eddine Nechi, Il Cavaliere Inesistente, 2023, digital

    Italian folk tales come to life thanks to the vibrant colors and whimsical creatures that inhabit Sonia Bensalem’s works. In one illustration, a young man sleeps alongside a dog and a cat. In the background, the phrase “fairy tales are true…” hints at what they are dreaming. In another beautiful panel, creatures of the sky and sea gather around a giant resting beneath a large tree: an octopus, many small birds, a few donkeys, queens, and cottages—so many loving details drawn with the same care as the characters in the third illustration, where they tidy another giant’s beard using rakes.

    Sonia ben Salem, Favole Italiane, 2023, digital
    Sonia ben Salem, Favole Italiane, 2023, digital

    Thanks to Aymen Mbarki’s flowing lines, the characters from the complex novel If on a Winter’s Night, a Traveler become perfectly comprehensible. A play of volumes characterizes the illustrations: the delicate features of people engrossed in reading are framed by bolder lines that guide the eye across the three illustrations. In this work, aged paper creates a welcoming environment for the black ink, giving it even greater depth.

    Aymen Mbarki, Se Una Notte d’Inverno Un Viaggiatore, 2023, inc on paper
    Aymen Mbarki, Se Una Notte d’Inverno Un Viaggiatore, 2023, inc on paper

    Othman Selmi brings us into the treetops to chase after Cosimo, the rebellious baron who will never descend again. Selmi gives the work a contemporary touch, choosing almost pastel-like colors and capturing all the love the protagonist feels—for freedom, his friends, Viola, and the forest. In the illustration where young Cosimo reads to the bandit Gian dei Brughi, all these themes come together: the young baron, with an open book, sits on the back of the bandit, crammed into a cell too small for him. A blossoming tattoo adorns the bandit’s giant arm, and small trees grow at his feet.

    Othman Selmi, Il Barone Rampante, 2023, digital
    Othman Selmi, Il Barone Rampante, 2023, digital

    Then, Abir Gasmi and Kamal Zakkour created the three new invisible cities, suspended between shadows and sea breezes. Fiorita, Spaventata, and Pretenziosa are projections of the soul drawn in charcoal on paper. Many of us would love to live forever in Fiorita. Still, we know all too well that without knowing Spaventata and Pretenziosa, we would never appreciate the value of the city where “restless souls find peace.”

    Kamal Zakkour and Abir Gasmi, La Città Spaventata, 2023, charcoal on paper
    Kamal Zakkour and Abir Gasmi, La Città Spaventata, 2023, charcoal on paper

    The search for the proper nails to support so much beauty led me to a small hardware store, where an attentive and precise apprentice helped me. We chose small, dark nails—discreet yet intense—and hammered them into the white walls, freshly repainted for the occasion. There was a dance of the paintings until one evening, after sunset, everything fell into place, and we left, satisfied. We hung books on the walls to share the stories we had loved with all those who came to visit.

    Once everything is in place, there is that slightly dizzying moment when you look around and remember the empty room when everything was still packed against the walls. Yes, something could still be changed. No, everything will stay just as it is.

    Calvino would have liked it.

    The catalouge “Calvino a Tunisi,” edited by Chiara Comito, will be published by Mesogea at the end of November 2024.

    _Abir Gasmi and Anna Gabai

    Dialogues is a place for being vocal. Here, authors and artists get together in conversations, interviews, essays and experimental forms of writing. We aim to create a space of exchange, where the published results are often the most visible manifestations of relations, friendships and collaborations built around Sumac Space. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO STAY CURRENT.

    Newsletter

    We use cookies to analyze site traffic. By continuing to use this website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy policy.