Street art from everywhere – but not Haiti – on display in Tunisia

It takes a village – and a lot of imagination to put an unnassuming place on the map. And into a remarkable open-air museum.

Erriadh village on the island of Djerba, off the coast of Tunisia, is hosting an evolving street exhibition by artists from around the world. As its website says, “1 Île, 1 Village, 150 Street-artists, 30 Nationalités”.

The US, UK, and even the Dominican Republic is represented. Not neighbouring Haiti though. This, despite its incredibly strong culture of artistic innovation and the thriving street art in Petionville in the Haitian capital.

The Erriadh exhibition is eccentric to say the least. As OZY describes it, “Once-bare walls and rooftops are now covered with stunning images like rows of Ottoman soldiers, courtesy of the Argentinian JAZ; colorful mythical beasts by the Mexican Curiot; a flying Berber man, by Parisian Bom.K; or a spectacular mural of a mother and child by the American Swoon. Tunisian street artists like InkMan, eL Seed or Shoof have also answered the call, adding ‘calligraffiti’ — a combination of street art and Arabic calligraphy — to the visual mix.” Click here to read the OZY piece in full. Or here to visit the street art museum’s website.

It’s fair to assume that the museum makes a tourist destination out of a quiet place. Exactly the sort of renewing urban planning that can be transformative.

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life”
– Jack Kerouac