Talks with Massinissa Selmani and Khaled Bouzidi

In this dual presentation, Massinissa Selmani and Khaled Bouzidi present on two aspects of 1000 Villages’ background. Selmani will guide visitors through the research he has been conducting over the past decade, looking at an envisioned socialist utopia – forged by urban planning – in 1970s Algeria.

Bouzidi is the co-founder and director of rhizome gallery in Algiers. He will speak about the important role rhizome plays in the contemporary art landscape in Algiers, and how he considers research-based practices like Selmani’s in relation to other parts of rhizome’s program. rhizome runs a residency for international artists, an exhibition program for artists based in Algeria and those based in the diaspora in France and elsewhere, and they have recently taken over the archive of one of Algeria modern painting masters, Mohammed Khadda, as well as stewardship of his archive.

The presentations will be followed by a moderated discussion between Selmani, Bouzidi and Llorens on the stakes their collaboration, how it has impacted each of their practices over the last two years, and what emerges the presentation of their research in Stockholm.
Prior to founding rhizome in 2018, Bouzidi oversaw the cultural program at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Algeria. From 2012 to 2016, he coordinated the Trans-Cultural Dialogues platform for which he organized cultural and artistic events in Algeria and elsewhere in the Mediterranean, including large-scale public arts projects such as DJART and El-Medreb. Bouzidi is a graduate of Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey and holds a masters degree in arts and politics from Sciences Po.

This talk is part of the festival September Sessions.