The exhibition borrows its title from a 1979 publication on early Algerian film, edited by Wassyla Tamzali, which references Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot and Merzak Allouache’s 1976 cult classic film Omar Gatlato. The exhibition title combines two important conceptual clues for how contemporary Algerian visual artists and filmmakers approach and engage art as the decolonization process evolves. Both source works are portraits of anti heroes trying to make sense of their day-to-day lives. The Waiting for Omar Gatlato exhibition advances diverse representations of everyday life in Algeria and its diaspora through film, paintings, photography and sculpture. Artists in the exhibition included including Louisa Babari and Célio Paillard, Fayçal Baghriche, Bardi, Mouna Bennamani, Adel Bentounsi, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Halida Boughriet, Fatima Chafaa, EL Meya, Hakima El Djoudi, Karim Ghelloussi, Mounir Gouri, Mourad Krinah, Amina Menia, Sonia Merabet, Yazid Oulab, Lydia Ourahmane, Sadek Rahim, Dania Reymond, Sara Sadik, Fethi Sahraoui and La Chambre Claire, Massinissa Selmani, Fella Tamzali Tahari, Djamel Tatah and Sofiane Zouggar.
Waiting for Omar Gatlato: A Survey of Algerian Contemporary Art
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The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts