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"What If?"

London 2012

Thirty years have passed since I came to this country after leaving Algeria in 1977. Algeria gained independence in 1962. The country was divided in different cultures: The French/Algerians who had a strong French impact, the Arab/Muslims and the Berbers, the ancient original culture that had survived many invasions.

Algeria has serious difficulties in defining a clear identity for itself. It was rather chaotic when I left in 1977 and the problem has not been resolved yet as there is still much confusion. The recent terrifying attacks perpetrated by suicidal bombers in Algiers are the expression of the power struggle between the many political "forces" to the detriment of innocent people who just want to "live their lives" after so many wars, invasions and conflict.

Many things have happened since I moved to London where I have pursued a career in art. Most of the themes I present are about displacement, multicultural backgrounds, the effect of wars, post-Orientalism and the conditions of Women.
Living in this country has brought me further insight about Algeria that has suffered so many political coups and social instability. Its evolution is very complex and difficult to understand. Despite living in UK my interest and connection with current Algerian developments has never ceased. It still captivates me. Recently I had the opportunity of travelling round my beautiful country, from the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara and was also able to visit the ruins of cities left by the many long gone civilisations.

Having been born during the French Occupation, in school I was taught that my ancestors were Gauls. However, I was brought up in a Muslim family where the customs were kept strong but also the doors were wide open to French culture as my father attended French school. So we had a mixture of languages and ways on thinking that were accepted and encouraged not only in my family but in the Arab/Berber community as well.

My interest in adornments started when I was very little, during colonialism when my aunties and uncles from the south used to come to visit. They were my relatives, from my mother's Berber side of the family and my father's Bedouin origins. The women used to wear their traditional outfits and adorned themselves with many amazing pieces of silver jewellery. They had their hands decorated with henna, and their eyes made up with Kohl and used strong perfume. Their hair was platted and covered by enormous turbans decorated with more finery. They used to live in a small village where my mum was born, situated in the high mountains of the Atlas chain. Although the French made a big impact on Algerian culture in the northern area of the country, they couldn't curb the indigenous traditions in the deep countryside where the way of life and customs were different.

Interestingly, my mum normally used to wear French outfits but to celebrate any Arab/Muslim ceremonies she would wear traditional costumes which were more in keeping with the Northern Algerian style (fewer adornments). The new culture brought by the French was totally rejected by traditionalists, but quite accepted and embraced by young families such as mine living in big cities were the French population was quite numerous. My uncles from the South used to wear traditional Arab outfits sometimes mixed with some French accessories, unlike my father who wore typical modern western clothes.

I noticed the women used "to parade" their finery. It was a specifically female "done thing". As a little girl I spent my time staring in fascination at my aunties when they used to take off their adornment for the night and help each other put them on again in the morning. Their finery had been collected since they were very young. Interestingly, I thought they had no resemblance to the portraits of Gauls that my French teacher used to show us in books and on school posters.
Algerian independence was proclaimed in 1962 and the entire French population fled back to France or other destinations. I was 13 at the time and from that moment many questions came to my mind: Who were the French? What did being Arab or Muslim mean? Who were the Berbers? And so forth...

Doing research on adornments in Algeria would bring many more questions to light, because this finery would help me to understand its value, power and function. Women who felt trapped and forced to fight for their family's survival, who took part in the war of liberation, who were the vehicles for protecting and transmitting their culture, used stunning jewellery and accessories to proclaim their freedom, their unique identity, but also their sensuality and beauty. It was their way of "being" or existing as individual entities.

The question is: Would adornments have the same function and play the same role for future generations? Would women's finery ever again be as necessary as it was during colonialism?

The "What if?" project started when I met a young French/Algerian student who came to interview me for some research she was doing on Middle Eastern art. I responded to her questions but I also became very interested in her life history. A daughter of a first generation Algerian immigrant to France, she was born in Paris. She was only 25 when I met her for the first time in 2007. She is very bright and concerned with the way Algerian art history was being written.
So we had this very interesting conversation about our respective lives. I took some pictures, mainly of her face, at La Gare du Nord when I was leaving Paris. You will find these portraits in my "What if ?" collection.

I have also produced a short video entitled "Emigree et demi, un portrait de Nabila" 2008, and presented a collection of old photographs of Algerian women in their traditional costumes. Many of these pictures were taken during French colonial rule and were mainly sold as post cards...
I chose some that reminded me my aunties from Southern Algeria. I started working on the images on my computer and fusing the pictures with Nabila's portrait.
I found the results very haunting, astonishing and quite disturbing.

My family genealogical tree doesn't go very far back. This is a consequence of colonialism. My father moved to the North for work but was gradually completely separated from his origins as circulation and travelling in Algeria during the war of independence, was very limited.

All the pictures will be printed giclee on canvas and paper.

Houria Niati
London 21/08/2012