CamFest at Wolfson kicks off with new look at Algerian arts

Algerian dance performers
29/03/2022

Research on Algeria has tended to focus on moments of conflict and violence. According to Wolfson Junior Research Fellow (JRF), Dr Stephen Wilford, this has moved the “incredibly diverse and extremely vibrant” Algerian arts to the periphery.  

Algerian dance performers

Dr Wilford’s new talk, The Arts in Algeria: Growing Networks and Supporting Creativity (Thurs 31 March, 6pm), aims to redress the balance.

The talk, part of the Cambridge Festival and the Wolfson Explores Growth event series, will spotlight the networks being collaboratively developed around the arts in Algeria: networks that aim to refocus attention on artistry and creativity, and create connections between practitioners and scholars working on the Arts and Humanities in Algeria.

Part of a varied series of Wolfson Cam Fest events this year, Dr Wilford will give a unique insight into the arts in Algeria, exploring the place of the arts within contemporary Algerian societies, the ways in which artists have shaped Algerian culture, and the aims and objectives of the new networks.

You can book your place at the talk online now.

Ahead of the talk on Thursday, we spoke to Dr Wilford about filling in the research gaps and how the new network is making a difference.  

To what extent has research ignored the arts in Algeria?

There has long been a tendency for academic research about Algeria to focus upon particular moments of violence and trauma. If you look for books or articles about Algeria, you will find that the majority concern themselves with French colonial rule in the country, national independence in 1962, and the so-called ‘Black Decade’ (sometimes considered the ‘Algerian civil war’) of the 1990s.

That’s not to suggest that the arts have been totally ignored, and there has been some fantastic research undertaken by both Algerian and non-Algerian scholars. But their work has generally remained peripheral, despite the fact that Algeria has such a diverse and vibrant cultural landscape, both within the country and among a transnational Algerian diaspora. Colleagues and I feel that this needs redressing and that we can collectively work to foreground not only the research that we are conducting, but also the creative activities of the people that we work with in Algeria who are such amazing writers, actors, musicians, dancers, and artists.

What’s your definition of 'the arts' in this context?

The definition of ‘the arts’ that I am employing in this talk, and that we use for our network, is intentionally broad. We tend to use ‘the arts’ and ‘creativity’ quite interchangeably, in part because what constitutes ‘the arts’ is very different in different countries. Our network members are based in Algeria, Europe, and North America, so we need a definition that is inclusive. So broadly speaking, we use the term to refer to things like literature, poetry, film, theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts.

We absolutely want to be inclusive rather than exclusive, so we have members who work on topics like graffiti and street art in Algeria, or creative approaches to architecture. A lot of the people involved in our network would probably say that they don’t work exclusively on ‘the arts’, but that it forms a significant part of their research and is something that they are very passionate about.

What are the characteristics of the arts in Algeria? 

The first thing to understand about the arts in Algeria is that they are incredibly diverse and extremely vibrant. This is, in part, a result of the huge geographic space that forms contemporary Algeria, currently the largest country in Africa. So cultural traditions that have grown up in the west and east of the country may be very different from one another. It’s also important to note that Algeria has long been a place of encounter and travel, connecting Africa, the Middle East, and Mediterranean Europe, so there are a huge number of artistic and cultural influences that have been blended over centuries and millennia.

The arts in Algeria incorporates ritual dances that originated in sub-Saharan Africa, musical traditions that moved from Iberia following the Reconquista, poetic practices that have developed over centuries among the country’s Amazigh (or ‘Berber’) people, and literary traditions in both French and Arabic. And for myself, and for many of my colleagues, that is what makes the country so fascinating because it really is a cultural melting pot.

While relatively few Algerian artists are household names in the UK, people may be familiar with the raï music boom of the 1980s and 1990s, when the likes of Cheb Mami recorded with Sting (on the song Desert Rose), and the work of writers like Kamel Daoud (The Meursault Investigation) and Assia Djebar.

How do the arts influence the culture and the society in Algeria? 

The relationship between society and culture, and the arts, in Algeria is a complex one, I would suggest. The arts have long offered Algerians a way to explore and reflect upon their country’s difficult history and some of the challenges that people have faced in recent decades, including unemployment and housing issues. And for the Algerian community in Europe, and France in particular, the arts have been a way of discussing experiences of migration and, sadly, discrimination.

However, I think it is really important that we do not get trapped into focussing upon the arts solely as a response to violence and trauma. In many cases, the arts in Algeria are about creativity and imagination. There is, quite rightly, a real sense of pride in the music, literature, art, and films that Algerians produce, coupled with a feeling of frustration that these amazing artists have, for the most part, received little public attention outside of North Africa.

What exactly is the network you're building and how will it positively influence Algerian arts and our understanding of it? 

The network (DZArts) that I have launched with my friend and colleague Dr Tamara Turner (based at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin) grew out of our frustration at reading lots of interesting research on the arts and creativity in Algeria, but not having a platform to meet and talk to the colleagues who were producing it. When academics get together to talk about Algeria they nearly always focus upon history and political policy. Of course, that is very important, but it means that those of us working on the arts tend to feel a little marginalised. So, the network was initially an attempt to put us in contact with one another and to share our ideas.

We had a fantastic and enthusiastic response from academics and research students based in Algeria, the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, and North America. However, we quickly realised that we wanted to do more than just talk among ourselves, and that we all work with such amazing, creative artists. The other role of the network will therefore be to support Algerian artists by publicising their work and hopefully providing performance opportunities in the future. We recognise that we are in a position of privilege, with access to funding through our respective institutions.

It is also very important for us that the network is open to all and highly democratic. While Tamara and I are acting as co-convenors, we are not hierarchical and want to involve all of our members in decision making processes.

What’s the main message of the CamFest talk this Thursday?

The main message that I will be trying to communicate in my talk is that we need to refocus our understanding of Algeria beyond ideas of violence, trauma, and suffering. And that the arts provide an opportunity to recognise the agency and creativity of Algerians, both in the past and the present. There is such a long history of the Arab Muslim world being presented as a place of danger and conflict, and it is very important that we redress the balance. I will be focussing upon five artists who provide a very different view of what Algerian history, society, and culture is all about.

I will also be speaking about our network and the efforts that we are making to forge connections with Algerian artists, both in North Africa and among diaspora communities. I hope that this will show one way in which academics and artists can work collaboratively to collectively imagine creative futures.

You can find out more about CamFest events at Wolfson on our website.

And see the upcoming Wolfson Explores Growth events now.

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