Скачать или смотреть Tunisian painter fights social taboos

(14 Jan 2016) TUNISIAN PAINTER
SOURCE: AP HORIZONS, LIFESTYLE, HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY
RESTRICTIONS: HORIZONS CLIENTS AND LIFESTYLE HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY CLIENTS
LENGTH: 2.49

AP Television
Ariana, Tunisia - 24 October 2015
1. Close up of canvas
2. Mid of painter Olfa Jomaa painting
3. Close of mixing paint
4. Various of Jomaa painting in her studio
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Olfa Jomaa, Painter:
"Every year, there is like a breath of fresh air, with the youth entering university, who still pursue their dreams, their ideas. You advise them and then feel that in the end you're the one in the shadow, while they still have a chance to do what they're dreaming of. That's why I decided to come out of the shadow."
6. Mid of Jomaa painting
7. Close of paint
8. Close of dirty brushes
9. Various of Jomaa's paintings
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Olfa Jomaa, Painter:
"(Their idea) was to leave under a mass of black cloth the body of a woman rotting. They were wrapping her so she could rot, and I was trying to unveil this woman."
11. Close of canvas
12. Various of Jomaa painting
13. Various of paintings
14. SOUNDBITE (French) Olfa Jomaa, Painter:
"In Tunisia, I'm really confident that women won't stand still on these issues. There are many strong and liberal women. We'll have many other social and cultural fights to face."
15. Mid of paintings
16. Close of Jomaa's signature
LEADIN:
Five years after the Arab Spring, which brought hope and disappointment for many across North Africa and the Middle East, one Tunisian painter is using provocative art to fight social taboos.
STORYLINE:
The red paint highlights the strength of the message.
37-year-old Tunisian painter Olfa Jomaa enjoys the calm of her studio in the suburbs of Tunisia's capital.
Jomaa has been interested in art since she was in high school. While the majority of students were waiting for the summer to enjoy their vacation, Jomaa was longing to get back to her drawings.
She decided to focus her studies and her work on interior design as it was more socially accepted than being a painter. She's also teaching at the Superior School of Beaux-Arts of Tunis.
Three years ago, her life took a new turn.
"Every year, there is like a breath of fresh air, with the youth entering university, who still pursue their dreams, their ideas. You advice them and then feel that in the end you're the one in the shadow, while they still have a chance to do what they're dreaming of. That's why I decided to come out of the shadow," explains Jomaa.
While satisfying financially, socially and professionally, her work never fully personally rewarding. She then decided to start her dream.
She now can be open about her art that addresses a certain number of social taboos, in an expressionist style.
Jomaa did some artwork on illegal immigration to Europe, but quickly focused on the suffering of women.
Nudity is central to her work, which she says was a direct provocative response to the aggressiveness towards women by hardliners in the country.
"(Their idea) was to leave under a mass of black cloth the body of a woman rotting. They were wrapping her so she could rot, and I was trying to unveil this woman," says Jomaa.
Psychological anxieties, the need for appearance, breastfeeding or family, are some of the themes she highlighted in her work.
One of the most crude paintings deals the issue of abortion, in which the women, rooted in the earth, is surrounded by her own ghosts, at the edge of an abyss that swallows a series of babies.
Her goal is not to sell her paintings, but, mainly by provoking, to make people think, to generate a debate.

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