Elles peignent ce que le désert murmure – Le Jeune Indépendant

During the visual art exhibition organized as part of the 10th edition of the National Cultural Festival of Women’s Creation, dedicated to the Great South, Le Jeune Indépendant met three artists, the photographer Meriam Ouanni and the visual artists Maroua Elkhir and Rauiya Faradji. Three women, three sensibilities, three paths that intersect in a space where each work resonates like the echo of the soul and freedom.

In the middle of the afternoon, golden light flooded the white walls of Villa Boulkine (Hussein-Dey), while a warm breath from the coast entered through the half-open windows and touched the hanging canvases, motionless but full of life. On the second floor, in the second bedroom on the right, the walls are covered with photographs. The artist photographer, Meriam Ouanni, describes to us the setting of one of her photos, that of a female silhouette, draped in a Melhfa (Tisrenss), stands out, lonely, against the sandy horizon. Title of the work: “Woman in a Serene Desert” (70x50cm). About this work, Meriam Ouanni explained that “in her environment, this woman can be herself, act and behave as she wishes”.
By the way, “my passion for photography began in 2017, after a difficult period in my studies,” she confided, caressing the lens of her camera. And added: “I started by photographing only in my neighborhood and my village. Each shot became a challenge, a breath, whether it captured a fragment of nature or a street scene.”
His attentive gaze captures the slightest variations. A fabric flying away, a face half turned. She said she didn’t look for the photograph, she came. “Photography saved me from depression,” she said bluntly. Before emphasizing: “It’s therapy. She gave me back my taste for the world.”

Traces of emotions

A little further on, another photo stops visitors: “The Rhythm of the Sahara”, (70x50cm). We can see a man beating the bendir, a woman with her head bowed. The moment seems suspended between modesty and passion. “This rhythm, El Berzana, is a Tidikelt dance, very popular in the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt triangle. It is danced at weddings and Saharan carnivals… This moment and the woman literally captivated me! “. Meriam Ouanni smiled. Behind her, her photos tell what words cannot say.
Meriam Ouanni was born in 1994 and grew up in the south in Inghr (Ain Salah). Her passion for photography began in 2017. She has participated in numerous photography competitions, some of which earned her second and third place. She has already won a prize in a competition in Egypt. She perfected her skills with recognized photographers, before obtaining a national training certificate and a diploma from an international photography academy.

“Since I was very young, I have always felt a deep love for art photography. It’s a passion that comes naturally to me, like an innate talent. I had dreamed of it for a long time, and when the opportunity finally presented itself, I did not hesitate to seize it. Through my lens, I was able to immortalize beautiful stories and capture the richness of the natural landscapes that surround me,” explained Meriam, her voice full of emotion.
In the next room, Rauiya Faradji, inexhaustible, chatted with visitors, sharing the stories hidden behind her two paintings: “Breaths on the table of Existence” (50x65cm, Oil on Canvas, 2024), and “Soul’s Eternity” (70x80cm, Oil on Canvas, 2025). Born in 1998 in Ouargla, graduated from the Regional School of Fine Arts in Mostaganem, she is part of the impressionist movement. Rauiya Faradji is in search of spirituality, of memories, much more than the simple surface of things. “A woman is a soul, and my paintings are a glimpse of memory,” she said passionately. And to note with a certain confidence: “My paintings are still lifes that breathe”. In this regard, she wanted to clarify: “I want to show that even inanimate objects have a soul, a story. They carry the memory of those who touch them.”

Through them, the Sahara paints

Moreover, while contemplating her two works, “some say that the colors used are not Saharan,” she quipped in an amused tone. “But they are spiritually. We use them because we feel the warmth of them. It’s something very interior.” In “Soul’s Eternity”, purple dominates, a symbol of royalty. “This painting speaks of the soul of the female queen. The color purple, historically rare and precious, was reserved for royalty. But for me, women are innately queen.” Known for her poetic and philosophical style, she has participated in numerous national and North African exhibitions. According to her, her art is a window open to “the soul, memory and feminine depth”.
In the same exhibition room, two paintings by Maroua Elkhir – “Liberty” and “Voice of the Earth” –, a graduate of the Mohammed Khadda School of Fine Arts in Mostaganem, sit side by side. Born in Ain Salah in 1996, the painter speaks in a soft but sure voice. “In La Liberté, there is coherence and strength in the colors. They symbolize the Saharan woman in her power and wisdom.”
His painting, with its colorful hues, is part of abstract art and fascinates with its freedom. Moving shapes, a light that seems to spring from within.

In front of the painting “Voice of the Earth”, she clarified: “I wanted to show how the Saharan woman moves, how she advances to look for work, to meet her needs. It is movement, it is perseverance.” “The Saharan woman is not defined only by her crafts or her traditional clothes. It is also expressed through painting, photography, literature…”, affirmed with one voice the two visual artists Rauiya Faradji and Maroua Elkhir, driven by the desire to break with stereotypes.
They speak little, but every word counts, like every brushstroke. In their eyes shines the same brilliance as in their paintings, that of a woman who looks at the world without ever lowering her own. When night falls on Hussein-Dey, Villa Boulkine lights up from the inside. The crowds flock there, the place is filled with people, murmurs and curious looks.

Their arts, so singular, nevertheless come together in the same conviction, they are inhabited by it, as if by a promise. And that evening, we accredit the observation that artistic creation is, indeed, a way of existing and of expressing oneself to the world. It is a means of expression, a true affirmation of oneself, but also a way of telling the world and sharing one’s own vision.