Itinérances africaines – La Nouvelle République Algérie

African roaming

Ezzou’art Gallery

Africa is not limited to geography: it breathes, it sings, it tells the history of men since the dawn of time. It is this raw energy, made of human warmth and multiple heritages, that Siradj Bouhafs has chosen to put at the heart of his exhibition currently visible at the Ezzou’art gallery, in Algiers. The artist unveils a series of works where each color seems to extend a legend and each shape evokes an ancient memory.
Bouhafs, an experienced painter and passionate about visual ethnography, explores the depth of African traditions in his paintings. It draws on rituals, customs, popular expressions and spiritual heritage to paint a portrait of a continent as vast as it is teeming. His paintings do not describe: they celebrate. They celebrate tribal music, mixed gastronomy, refined craftsmanship, but also the landscapes that stretch from the heart of the forests to the endless dunes of the Sahara. Masks, powerful symbols of African culture, return as a leitmotif. Their sculptural forms occupy the space of the canvases and become the guardians of invisible stories. Other works take the visitor to the Algerian South: the Sahara, kingdom of silence and mysteries, appears under Bouhafs’ brushes as a universe where everyday life is transformed into ritual. The intimate scene of tea preparation, for example, delicately recreates the controlled slowness and sacred dimension of this familiar gesture. In these Saharan compositions, the palettes warm up: deep ochres, flamboyant yellows and bright reds translate the mineral force of the desert and the vivacity of the life that clings to it. The artist also evokes emblematic traditions such as the Sebeiba or the imzad, this monochord instrument of which he paints a musician, captured in a moment of simple grace. The canvas then invites travel as much as contemplation.
Behind this visual explosion lies a commitment: that of preserving intangible memories, of retaining the voices of ancestors before they fade away. Bouhafs anchors his work in this desire for transmission. His style, where the ancient dialogue with the contemporary, reveals an urgent need to safeguard what establishes an identity.
With this exhibition, the public is invited to cross a living, vibrant, generous Africa, where collective memory serves as a compass and a treasure.
The exhibition is on view until December 4, 2025.

R.C.