24 | african arts SUMMER 2009 Exile, Memory, and Healing in Algeria Denis Martinez and La Fenêtre du Vent Cynthia Becker F earing assassination by religious extremists, Denis Martinez (b. 1941), the Algerian-born artist and former professor at the École nationale supéri- eure des Beaux-arts in Algiers, led Algeria and immigrated to France in 1993. He left behind a well-established artistic career as the co-founder, in 1967, of the Algerian artistic movement known as Aouchem (‘tattoo’ in Arabic). For members of Aouchem, tattoos repre- sented an emblematic and ancient precolonial art form. The name was itting since the paramount goal of Aouchem was to liberate Algerian art from the domination of colonial inluences and to advocate the use of motifs and subject matter drawn from Algeria’s Berber, Arab, and Saharan African heritage. Members of Aouchem incorporated symbols from wall paintings, tat- toos, jewelry, and ceramics in order to counter the demagogical and propagandistic social realism promoted by the postcolonial Algerian government. Despite Aouchem’s disbandment after 1971, Martinez was inspired by the driving motivation behind the artistic movement, as he continued to promote the indi- genization of contemporary Algerian art and to celebrate Alge- ria’s cultural and historical heritage. Martinez’s exile in France compelled him to create works that grappled with the trauma of violence he had witnessed in Alge- ria and expressed his longing for his homeland. In particular, his portable installation and performance piece poetically titled La Fenêtre du Vent (2002–2004), meaning the “Window of the Wind,” addressed his own personal pain of exile and, in the pro- cess, ofered a mechanism for healing himself and others (Fig. 1). Martinez’s La Fenêtre du Vent intentionally rejected the con- ines of the gallery- or museum-based exhibition in favor of an outdoor installation/performance that combined painting with music and poetry. Martinez created La Fenêtre du Vent in 2002 as a large portable canvas measuring 250cm high and 200cm wide (98½" x 78¾") with a rectangular opening in the center resembling a glassless window. he intention of the window was for the public to stand in the opening behind the painting, thus becoming part of the canvas and participating in the process of artistic creation. his conformed to Martinez’s goal of decon- structing the division between artist and audience and his inten- tion that the La Fenêtre du Vent be a forum for public expression. His color range included intense pulsating colors inspired by painted Berber house interiors and the bright fabric and ribbon (opposite) 1 Denis Martinez La Fenêtre du Vent (2002–2004 Acrylic on canvas; 250 cm x 200cm (98½” x 78¾”) Performance in Timimoun, southern Algeria, 2002. PHOTO: DENIS MARTINEZ