Nidhal Chamekh Tunisian, b. 1985

Born 1985. Dahmani, Tunisia

Lives and works between Paris, France and Tunis, Tunisia

Nidhal Chamekh’s practice reflects on the times that we inhabit. His artwork is situated at the intersection of the biographic and the political, the lived and the historical, the event and the archive. His oeuvres dissect the constitution of our contemporary identity. Chamekh has developed a language that challenges history and politics in their broader sense. He performs his fragmentary research to convey an ambiguous atmosphere, shifting between the experience and the violence of the individual representation. He represents an imperceptible space between a silent violence mirroring an intimate experience of trauma.

He graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Tunis and the University of Sorbonne in Paris. Between 2021 and 2022, he was a fellow at Villa Medici French Academy in Rome, Italy where his artistic project sought to introduce Rome’s archaeological heritage and the marginalized cultural production of the City’s exiles, in a process of montage where present and past are jointly defined.

Chamekh has also been featured in the book African Art Now by Osei Bonsou, co-published by the Tate publishing and Ilex.

He has recently exhibited at internationally renowned institutions and biennials, including MAC the Museum of Contemporary art Lyon, France / The 12th edition of Bamako Encounters Photography Biennial, Mali / Venice Biennial, Italy / Aïchi Triennale, Japan / Yinchuan Biennial, China / The Drawing Room, London, UK / Modern Art Oxford, UK / Skissernass Museum, Lund, Sweden / Dream City Biennial, Tunis, Tunisia. Chamekh’s work forms part of many prestigious collections of art, including FRAC Centre, Orléans, France / British Museum, London, U.K. / Blachère Foundation, France / Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, U.S.A. / Barjeel Foundation, Sharjah, UAE / Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, France and Centre National Des Arts Plastiques (CNAP), Paris, France, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, UAE.