Canvas: How did your interest in the Gabès Oasis begin?
Mohamed Amine Hamouda: I come from Gabès, spent my whole childhood here, and have been teaching here since 2013 at the Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Gabès. At first, I wasn’t aware of the cultural richness of the oasis, but with time, I became more sensitive to it. The issues facing the oasis, due to the high levels of pollution from industry, are linked to socio-economic factors and the climate crisis. I always say the problem is colonial. Gabès is a unique place, with the only maritime oasis in the world, yet the French decided to install a chemical factory here, which has negatively affected the area on multiple levels.
As an artist, it’s important to me to focus on something that is mine, something local, that resembles me. As I developed as an artist, I started thinking about art not just as a practice but also as a tool of resistance. I experimented with different styles and materials, but nothing felt right. I spent much of my childhood in a very old market called Souq El Henna, where people sell spices and artisanal crafts. I began thinking about developing a colour range of pigments with my own ingredients, and started using plants from the souq, speaking with artisans who have an incredible encyclopaedic knowledge of ancestral practices. I decided that I could also make my own paper, with a vegetal base. I found that a local mulberry bark was excellent for making paper using one of the techniques used to make Japanese washi paper and I experimented too with other local plants. I also met a man who told me that the mulberry trees were very important, as our ancestors used to weave silk using fibre produced by the silkworms that fed on the mulberry leaves. I couldn’t believe it. There is even a silk sample in the Louvre called soie de Gabès. That was when I truly realised the depth of knowledge in the oasis.
This interview first appeared in Canvas 120: The Traces Left
