Aya Chriki

I have always been asked to explain my artistic reflections. And this exercise has always complicated my life. Me? Write my artistic thoughts in words? Me? Express myself in a language other than that of photography and images? It seemed impossible! But I was told that in contemporary art, and especially with your style of photography, it is necessary to express oneself more. Text is important. It represents half of the artistic work. So I said okay. I accept to play the game. But I will play it my way.

Have you ever been involved in something without knowing it?

It happened to me for the first time with photography. At the age of 13, I started taking pictures of everything and nothing: flowers, my cousins, trees, etc. Then, I would pass these photos through the free software available on laptops at that time, Movie Maker, creating small videos with banal transitions in the shape of hearts, squares, etc. And I organized screenings for the family. Then, this kind of video started to be requested by the family: listen, Aya, tomorrow is Syrinne’s birthday, can you take photos and make a little video? Cool, I’m useful in this family. With these videos and photos, I was able to claim the title of the « official photographer » of the family.

At the age of 15, it was the major event. It was the Tunisian revolution. I started following the news, the photos taken by photojournalists and the videos, etc. I began participating in demonstrations, mobilizations, and observing photographers, observing people carrying cameras, following their movements, their actions. That’s when I decided to become like them, to become a photographer. So I decided to study photography after high school. But wait! Because I always like to go further, I finally decided to study cinematography, thinking: why study the still image when I can study the moving image? That would give me a little more freedom, right?

So, a degree in cinema in 2017. A Master 1’s degree in photography in 2018. In 2018, my relationship with the image began to be more conscious. By crossing and studying the artistic paths of different women artists such as Shirin Neshat, Shadi Ghadirien, Mouna Jemal Siala, Nicène Kosentini, ORLAN, Agnès Varda, etc., I started to reflect more on my images, identify my interests, and ask myself what I could do with my art about these reflections. So, in 2018, I created my first conceptualized photographic series, « Red and Black: The Conflict, » in which I addressed the question of the female body in patriarchal society in relation to the two symbolic colors, Red and Black. By covering my body with fabrics in Black and Red, dancing, I let these two colors express themselves, and the camera recorded.

Returning to my academic journey, I mentioned that I only completed one year of a Master’s program in photography. Why only one year of Master’s? It was very simple in my mind! My love for photography was not going to make me accept strict frameworks that, I felt, would make me lose my creative freedom. And how can one make art if they don’t feel free? So, after the first year of the Master’s program, I decided to go elsewhere. To fly away and live an experience abroad.

This experience made me reflect a lot on my own identity; on the concept of displacement. Me? Who am I? Beyond my first name and last name? Who am I to myself? Who am I to others? Am I free? I am Tunisian, and so what? Maybe being African adds something? I really don’t know! Did I do well to distance myself from my family and loved ones to follow my dreams? What is a dream, anyway?

Speaking of dreams and freedom, if you add the fact that I am a young woman, could that change things? Could that change the limits of my freedom? the limits of my dreams? the limits of my body? the limits of my thoughts?

With all these questions, all these upheavals, I discovered analog photography. So, I started experimenting with this medium in 2019. During the initial period, I took photos of anything and everything to discover this new device. And in 2020, I created my first series in analog, « This Sea is Mine, » addressing my relationship with the sea and the body.

After a certain period of my transition to analog photography, I returned to video. During the lockdown, finding myself confined, I started playing with my old videos. Finding more fluidity and freedom of movement in the video, I also started turning my still photos into videos to give them a bit of rhythm and movement and, at the same time, to have a new vision of time in video. So, more than 24 frames per second.

After several experiments, in 2022, I created my first videographic work, « It is where nothing like this happens. » In a 5-minute video where videos filmed since 2018 in different cities between Europe and Africa and analog photos dance together, I addressed the question of the « ideal » city, my relationship with cities, displacement, and movement in their various dimensions.

So, I can say that from 2018, I started experimenting with these mediums at the same time as I explored these questions. In my various projects, you will find something personal, a story, a detail of my life. A personal vision, a personal feeling, a personal experience that can be shared.

II can also say that for me, I see my artistic work as a personal experience that emerges from me, becomes visible through the image to meet other personal experiences, to live, share a collective experience. And finally, to create, why not, a collective narrative.

So, as you can see, in my various projects, I have tried to find answers to my questions. But, to be honest, each time, I found nothing but new questions.

Aya Chriki, 2023.