Nicène Kossentini Tunisian, b. 1976

b. 1976, Sfax, Tunisia / Lives and works in Tunis, Tunisia and Paris, France

The work of Nicène Kossentini is an invitation to experience a symbiosis with a space of life that is both close and uncertain. Playing with black and white contrasts and zones of semi-visibility, Kossentini creates singular and minimalist environments. Her photographs and videos track the traces of sites and surfaces on the verge of disappearance, hypnotizing the spectator to look ahead to an imminent event. Her videos, photographs, sculptures, works on paper and paintings question the current events in the world. In this perspective, she always shifts towards the search of aesthetic, beauty and poetry in order to confront cold violence. Kossentini's research area draws its resources from her family history, intimate and intergenerational tradition of storytelling, as well as Arabic poetry, literature and philosophy.

Kossentini graduated with a degree in Applied Arts from the Fine Art Institute of Tunis, Tunisia and pursued Advanced Studies in Art from Marc Bloch University, Strasburg, France. She is currently an assistant professor of Experimental Cinema at the University of Tunis, Tunisia.

Kossentini’s works have been shown internationally at institutions and biennials such as Musée d'art moderne de Collioure, France / Musée Paul Dupuy, Toulouse, France / MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Germany / Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea / Les Abbatoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie, France / Pori Art Museum, Finland / National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Russia / Institut du Monde Arabe, France / Circulo de Bellas Artes, Spain / 7th  and 12th editions of the Bamako Encounters – African Biennial of Photography, Bamako, Mali / Bahrain National Museum, Manama, Bahrain / Museum of Tunis Kheireddine Palace, Tunis, Tunisia / Museum of Boulogne Billancourt, France / Thirtieth Pontevedra Art, Pontevedra, Spain / The 2nd Thessaloniki Biennal of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece / 25th Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean countries, Alexandria, Egypt / The Biennale of World Images, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France / Kunsthalle São Paulo, Brazil / Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden / MUSAC, León, Spain.

Kossentini’s work forms part of many prestigious collections of art, including The British Museum, London, UK / Musée - Frac Occitanie, Les Abattoirs, France / Fondation Blachèr, France / The Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia / Museum of Modern Art, Tunis, Tunisia and Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Angola.