The healing bellies

The exhibition Yiwen n Uxxamiw (One of My Homes) is a collection of works representing the beginnings of a reconciliation between two distinct but intimately connected cultures and identities, both rooted in my cultural heritage: one French and the other Kabyle, amazigh people from Algeria. This artistic journey has laid the foundations of my practice, intertwining themes of genealogy, femininity, symbolism, and spirituality. The presented artworks unveil my exploration and free interpretation of traditional and ritualistic artisanal practices of Kabyle women. For a long time, the Kabyles shaped their existence based on the model of agrarian civilizations, where human life harmoniously blends into the natural surroundings. Their traditional art reflects a living spirituality loaded with symbols representing their immediate environment and beliefs. It is an ancestral craft deeply rooted in local tradition. Before the French colonization of Algeria, their primary mode of communication was deeply rooted in the essence of taqbaylit, a term that refers to both their dialect and the Kabyle woman. Women also expressed themselves by affixing ideograms on pottery, murals, and textiles, thereby conveying esoteric messages kept by and for them. Venerated as guardians of the fertility of the land, they carried within them the secrets of these ancient practices. My approach aims to engage in a dialogue between the beliefs and symbols of a femininity inherent in a heritage on the verge of disappearance with its counterpart belonging to modern Western society. Within this collection of works, I merge history and imagination, the concrete and the magical. Visually, this personal initiatory narrative stages two women searching for their dwelling in an arid landscape. They embody the two sides of the same coin, illustrating the paradoxes, tensions, and contradictions that animate an individual throughout their life, even within a single day. Their journey brings them face-to-face with objects, fauna, and flora linked to their past, present, and future. Through different stages, they abandon certain objects and adopt others, slowly advancing toward a place taking shape. The visit concludes with the discovery of the long-sought house materialized in an installation. The canvases are accompanied by excerpts from poems taken from Reines-compost, a work co-written by Rosy L. Daneault and Camille Saint-Jacques Couture, published by Éditions du Noroît in 2023. This poetic association weaves a subtle connection between the two women in search of their dwelling and the rich world of Reines-compost. Poetry provides a new and unique depth to the choices, losses, and discoveries of the protagonists. The objects abandoned and paths adopted by these women find an echo in the shards of the singing world evoked in the authors' dialogue. Within this ensemble, each element, whether visual or literary, contributes to shaping an immersive artistic experience.