L’Art Rue, established in 2007, developed at the center of the medina of Tunis. The projects of L’Art Rue have later opened-up to the other regions of Tunisia to decentralize the cultural offer, and then to the MENA region to favor the development of initiatives, not only in the cities but also in all these territories, to reinforce the regional cultural ecosystem. L’Art Rue is diversifying the transmission of its’ programs across multiple territories in the country and amongst a variety of generations.
The first edition in three years, c made a powerful return in 2022. For ten days in the Medina and downtown Tunis, 12 projects of creation by Tunisian artists, artists from the MENA region and international ones, transformed the city, engaging hundreds of artists and collaborators, and almost 20,000 audiences in a common gesture of imagination, hope and a common future. Around the creation projects, dozens of shows, concerts and celebrations were organized. 28 venues were invested, transformed and shared in the Medina and at the Municipal Theatre in downtown Tunis. Artists from 15 nationalities were present, in addition to a hundred professionals from around the world attended Dream City. Remarkably many projects continue to live from Dream City, and to be presented both in Tunisia and around the world, such as ‘Metamorphosis #2' by Essia Jaïbi and Jalila Baccar, ‘Cypher’ by Ridha Tlili and ‘Libya’ by Radouan Mriziga, who will tour the world in 2023.
At each edition of Dream City, L’Art Rue calls on young volunteers, who are an essential element in the organization of the festival. On a call for applications, 126 volunteers were selected to support the festival’s team, on tasks such as logistics, ticket sales and mediation in the Medina. They received a training in cultural mediation and were able to make visits to the Medina supervised by urban planners and historians, to become familiar with the festival and its artistic works in addition to getting a better understanding of the venues of Dream City.
L’Art Rue also precede the festival with art workshops targeting young artists, from economically and socially deprived areas, where such opportunities are not accessible. Twenty-nine individuals benefited from such workshops. For example, four young artistic collaborators were able to partake in the Rascal project, carried by the artist designer Thomas Egouménides, which aims to recover waste by creating a design object that is both aesthetic and practical. They developed skills in object creation, communication, and workshop facilitation. Here from one of the young participants:
« I discovered myself, I did not think I had a talent or a penchant for Do It Yourself. I also learned some reassembly tricks. I become more autonomous, manual and I even find myself tinkering at home. Many things that require money have become very accessible and doable for me. Anything that I might need, I can create myself: a lamp, hangers or even a window. »
