YOUSSEF TABTI, Algerian/French
Born in Paris.
Live since 1994 in Hamburg, Germany
Born in Paris of a French mother and an Algerian father who had immigrated to France in the 1930's
Youssef Tabti spent his childhood between both countries. As an artist, he applies this duality of thought to his artistic process.
On the work of Youssef Tabti.
Youssef Tabti’s audiovisual work- slide projections, videos, installations-adresses issues such as the recollection of memory in storytelling and representation, its role in perception, and the formation of the subject. He re-introduces the theatrical and the literary into the domain of the visual.
Using his own identity that has been defined by several cultures as the starting point, he tackles the increasingly difficult relationship between religions, gender and cultures. In doing so he does not allow himself to be tied down to one specific medium. The allegorical minimalism of his videos and installations is frequently unsettling owing to the discord between their external sensory appeal and their controversial content.
Project- "Greetings from Lampedusa" 2011
for FOCUS 11-Contemporary Art Africa
curated by Christine Eyene
“short description of the project presented” The way the world works in general can often be shown with little examples. One example to understand the mechanisms of the European Union is the treatment of African refugees on the island of Lampedusa. For that the member states of the EU created an agency of operative cooperation on the exterior borders called FRONTEX. My contribution to FOCUS11 concentrates on a postcard that we know from holiday sites, as well as an audio recording that presents information about the organization FRONTEX. The postcard serves as a medium of mass communication while at the same time representing a product with an individual touch. It is going to be distributed all over the city, and thus to the public. The audience may choose the addressee who will thus be involved in the project. Images and text are not to be aggressive, but should reverberate offensively.
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„ORLANDO"-Hermaphrodit 2004/2005
Inspired by Virginia Woolfs Gender story "Orlando“, Youssef Tabti films a portrait of the
actress Tonia Christie.
The picture is edited by means of montage and soon a time-warp ap- pears.
The picture overlaps and the words of the actress turn inwards.
Spoken for the audience, the voice emphasises an inner thought and develops as a central
theme. In quiet expression the character appears delicate and fragile. By raised spoken
english quotations Tabti involves the spectator in the disunity of Woolfs character and produces intensive, lasting moments by subtle distortions.
Video Stills from Orlando with
Tonia Christie
DV PAL 7’ 2004/2005
©Youssef Tabti
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MUEZZIN « Islam in the western
media » 2007
- A translator is using sign language
- A muezzin is singing
-All we see is no other than a muezzin calling to prayer, reciting in Arabic.
The subtitle never makes an allusion to Islam but all the same, the parallel between the text and the image catches our attention as does the news when we watch it on television.
Because of this everyone can let his and her thoughts wander and see what associations we make with these images.
In spite of the absence of a divulged message, the video turns out to have an underlying one, like a political gesture Perhaps our thoughts go no further than the beauty and the sound: the first message, the sacred because the
question is also about this.
Video Stills from Muezzin with
Münir Camll: Muezzin
Thimo Kleyboldt: Translator
DV PAL 12’ 2007 ©Youssef Tabti
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