Oussama Tabti

Tabti attempts to contextualize significant events and phenomena that have affected Algerian society. During the battle of Algiers in 1957, Mohamed El Badji – a popular composer and performer – was imprisoned. Mocking El Badji for how he made the call to prayer for the other prisoners, a guard stated “Sing, sing, you the bird in your cage, sing love or rage.” This phrase inspired the singer to write Meknine Ezzine (Pretty goldfinch), now a standard of chaabi music. Tabti’s installation plays a goldfinch singing five times a day, examining the notion of restricted religious freedom imposed by Western media and the voice as a means of escape.

Oussama Tabti was born in Algeria in 1988. He lives and works in Algiers. He is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Algiers and the visual arts school of Aix-en-Provence. He has exhibited at MEDITERRANEA 16 Young Artists Biennale (Marseille), FIAC Festival International d’Art Contemporain d’Alger (Algiers), Delfina Foundation (London), and MACB Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona).