This really is one of Mucem’s more esoteric offerings which we found a little baffling. The first few rooms are devoted to how the country was mapped, and some of the beautifully precise work by various draughtsmen. The commentary (English panels as well as French) explains how this work gave military support for the French invasion, and then how mapping became a tool of the occupation. The white areas on the maps were ‘where there was nothing’. Subsequent town plans show newly-created grid patterns of wide boulevards with Parisian places, hotels de ville and bibliotheques. The medinas and kasbahs were swept away.
The last couple of rooms exhibit posters which encouraged French workers to emigrate there to populate the new colony, and also posters advertising Algerian produce that they were shipping back to the mother country. And finally a few human interest stories.
It is a massive and sensitive subject but I really didn’t understand what this particular exhibition was trying to convey. Do comment if you’ve been and got more of a clue!
At MUCEM until 2nd May. Open daily exc Tuesdays.
We had the good fortune of being able to tour “Made in Algeria” on February 29 with its co-creator Zahia Rahmani, whose commentary gave shape to the exposition that would otherwise have been difficult to achieve. Mme. Rahmani’a personal story – born in Algeria 1962 and an immigrant to France at the age of five – certainly influenced the direction of the show. But it may be difficult to follow for two reasons:
• because it relies mostly on maps and posters from the French Bibliotheque National, and
• because so little was generally known about the area until France began constructing an image of Algeria after conquering it in 1830.
The main points that Mme. Rahmani wanted to make were that the maps left blank the areas where indigenous people lived, except for idealised cityscapes fragrant with “orientalism.” Individual maghrebiens are shown in florid colourful clothing that contrasts poignantly with the rags worn by peasant children in photographs.
French-made images intended to attract European settlers to the country also helped shape our impressions of Algeria. And they succeeded, to the point where colonists eventually worked the most productive land and some 70% of its agricultural production went for sale abroad. Meanwhile of course the show points out that the sacrifices made by Algerian and other colonial units fighting in WW II was poorly recognized and rewarded afterward. What finally makes the show so sad is that since the end of French rule in 1962 we see relatively little cultural product that would contribute to our understanding of independent Algeria.
It really is a fascinating subject with so many facets. You did well getting a tour with the curator. I didn’t pick up on the treatment of the Algerian units in WW2 – I saw the film ‘Indigenes’ which really communicated their plight so am interested in that, but didn’t see it in the expo. I felt the first three rooms on mapping all hung together well…but then the exhibition (for me) lost its way. I needed that curator!