Nidhal Chamekh
Mémoire promise #3
Nidhal Chamekh made the first drawings of the ongoing series Mémoire Promise in 2013. In the series, the artist persistently dissects, examines and describes his experiences and memories of his family and life in Tunis, Tunisia. As underlined by poet Arafat Sadallah, the artist draws eyes and gazes of unachieved portraits, hands and arms of a skeleton—figures disappear but they witness and testify. In writing on the work Sadallah writes: “Life is unachievable, infinite, torn. However at moments broken, ruptured. And through these ruptures and breaks give promise to a gift of sight and the possibility to witness, to be present in the world as a witness to … what exactly? What, who and where do we witness? Perhaps one can only witness the suspense of the question.” The Mémoire Promise series questions the role of the artist as witness.