Ceramics, 2018, source: islamicartsmagazine.com
di Roberta Marin [*]
Tunisian ceramics are internationally known for the complexity of the patterns, the brightness of the colours and the beauty of the shapes, ranging from simple everyday objects to the most sophisticated ones, often chosen to furnish the interior of a house. The development of ceramics dates back to ancient times, with archaeological sherds coming from the Phoenician, Roman, and Islamic periods (Salloum, ‘The Wonderful World of Tunisian Ceramics’, 2016). Traces of these influences can be found in the techniques and styles borrowed over the centuries, which have made Tunisian ceramics easily recognizable, even to those who are not experts in the field. The objects are often adorned with scenes from everyday life, nature and mythology, and the selection of bright colours mimics Tunisia’s lush natural beauty and the shades of the Mediterranean Sea. Ceramic works, with their long tradition, are still produced in large numbers today and are expressed in the most varied ways, drawing from the deep roots of ancient practices to a more innovative and contemporary approach, both in patterns and techniques. The best pieces are probably those that are made showing a technically perfect and stylistically balanced combination of past and present.
There are cities in Tunisia that have become prominent for the uniqueness of their ceramic creations (‘The history of pottery and ceramics in Tunisia’). Located in the north of the country, Sejnane, for example, is renowned for the ability of women potters to use ancient Berber methods, through which they create objects by hand, without the aid of pottery wheels, and fire them in open-air kilns. Sejnane’s rustic pieces features geometric and highly symbolic patterns of great cultural significance. Gafsa is another major ceramic centre in southwest Tunisia. Objects produced in Gafsa are easily recognisable for the refinement of the craftsmanship, the intricacy of the designs and the choice of earth colours.
The island of Djerba and the coastal town of Nabeul are famous all over the world not only for being established tourist resorts but also for the ceramic craft. Nabeul in particular is considered the main centre of ceramics industry in the country. By the time the Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), the port city was already a popular place for pottery crafts, as artisans had long since begun to adopt the potter’s wheel, imported by the Phoenicians to North Africa, and there was a significant presence of clay throughout the region. Today, tiles and objects are enriched with colourful floral and geometric motifs, evidently showing a strong influence from the various cultures that have alternated in the country and left distinctive traces in the contemporary works of some families of Tunisian and French potters working in the area, such as the Tissier, Kharrazm, Kedidi and Mejdoub.
Vase from Nabeul, source: M. Casanova CC-BY-SA-3.0
The city of Nabeul has also an important link with one of the most acclaimed Tunisian and Arab contemporary ceramists and artists, Khaled ben Slimane, who was born in Sousse in 1951, but grew up in the Nabeul region. He was supposed to follow in the footsteps of his family members and work in the legal field, since most of his relatives were employed in that sector. Almost by chance, however, he stumbled upon art and eventually studied and led his artistic training in ceramics at the Institut Technologique d’Art, d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Tunis (ITAAUT) and in the Escola Massana in Barcelona. Between 1975 and 1976, when he was still a university student, he visited India, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan more than once and came into contact with the ceramic production and stylistic decoration of that part of the world (https://www.galerielmarsa.com/artists/48-khaled-ben-slimane/biography/) along with its literature and poetry, especially that of Ferdowsi, Saadi and al-Hallaj, among others (Issa 2016: 180). Upon his return to Tunisia, Ben Slimane inaugurated his ceramic/art studio, before travelling to Japan in 1982, where he closely worked with some of the most knowledgeable and admired ceramicists in the world, those who had been awarded the title of ‘Living National Treasures’ by the Ministry of Culture of Japan (‘What is a Japanese Living National Treasure?’ The British Museum channel on YouTube). He also did an eight-month residency at Idemitsu Museum of Art in Tokyo, which contributed to further deepen his passion and interest in the ceramics and calligraphy of the Far East. These experiences were particularly formative in Slimane’s career and left an indelible mark on his subsequent practice. He has received numerous rewards in his long and successful career, including the 2002 Grand Prize of the Journey Through Ceramics in Vietri sul Mare, Italy and National Cultural Prize in Tunis, whereas in 1990, he was elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva.
The first solo exhibition took place in 1982 and since then his artistic production has been displayed worldwide. He has taken part in solo and group shows organised in leading museums, such as the Leighton House Museum and The British Museum in London and the MNAM-Centre Pompidou and Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. His work is housed in several public museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in Tokyo, the Benaki Museum in Athens and the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman, as well as in privately owned collections.
Ceramic gravestone, 1992, source: Mike Peel, CC-BY-SA-4.0
Slimane is a versatile artist, whose multidisciplinary work, which includes not only ceramics but also paper, wood, and bronze, has made him one of the most appreciated ceramicists, painters, and sculptors of his generation. (https://culturalnarratives.art/khaled-ben-slimane/). In his practice he blends elements derived from the traditions of the Middle and Far East with those of the contemporary European art scene. These elements, however, are absorbed, mediated and re-proposed, through the lens of the knowledge acquired in his frequent travels and his cosmopolitan artistic training. His oeuvre is deeply linked to his quest for spirituality in all forms and in his faith in Islam (Nysten, ‘Museum Acquisitions, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis’, 2021). In an interview, the artist said that he was a lonely child who began to ask himself challenging existential questions at an early age. He only found some answers when he entered university and started travelling abroad. What he learnt from these decisive life experiences helped him to explore not only his interiority but also more broadly the human soul and changed his conventional style in ceramics and painting to something more personal (Slimane 2004).
Another turn in Slimane’s career took place in 1979, when by accident he found a pile of old manuscripts in his grandfather’s wardrobe (Porter 2006, p.96). Some of them dated to the sixteenth century and were wedding and land sale contracts. He admitted to have troubles deciphering the text, but he was captivated by the beauty of the letters and the additional ornamentations that filled the pages (Issa, Cestar & Porter 2016: 180). The formula Wafaqahu Allah (‘with God’s blessing’) that concluded all contracts inspired the artist so much that he repeated it in his artworks.
Untitled column, 2004, source: invaluable.com
The formula was then shortened and only the word Allah was retained and reiterated an endless number of times. Along with the word Allah, the artist also uses Huwa (‘He’) and Ya Lateefu (derived from al-Lateef, ‘the Kind, the Gracious, the Most Subtle’, which is one of the ninety-nine beautiful names that Muslims attribute to God) (‘Solo Show “Shadow Architecture, Oratories of Light by Khaled Ben Slimane”’ 2018). By doing that, he wishes to evoke God as the unique creator. The habit of frequently using in his works free-floating single words, calligraphic letters and Arabic sayings allows the artist to reach a deep state of concentration and awareness, typical of Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam (‘About the Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East display’), and to generate an effect that transcends the barriers between the spiritual and earthly worlds (‘Moderno tunisino. Intervista con Lilia Ben Salah’, 2018). Therefore, not only does he connect and dialogue with his inner self, but, by extension, also with the people who look at his artworks and try to understand the message inherent in them, most often linked to concepts of absolute, beauty, time, transcendence and freedom (Slimane and Catzaras 2004: 41). According to Nooter Roberts in her review of the exhibition Khaled Ben Slimane. The Brush Dances and the Ink sings, ‘by inscribing the surface of the bowls with sacred letters of Koranic verse, the bowls literally come alive and their surfaces chant God’s praises.’ (Nooter Roberts, 1996: 90)
As already stated, Slimane often applies Arabic letters and words in his works. Although many other artists from the Middle and Far East also add them to their works and are recognized not only as artists, but also as calligraphers, Slimane has always refused to be regarded as one of them. In his work, in fact, he tries to overcome the boundaries and limits imposed by traditional calligraphy by moving forward, exploring the spirituality of the calligraphic form itself and becoming an innovator in his own right. In fact, he sometimes stylizes the letters to such an extent that it is difficult to pinpoint them, and what turns out to be more relevant is the essence of their form, which gives rise to abstract compositions, rather than their intrinsic meaning. In addition to the style, his work can be identified also by the colour palette with a predominance of blue, ochre, and brown that he prefers, and by the various shapes and sizes of cylinders, cones, and cubes that he chooses.
White Rotund I, 2016, source: invaluable.com
Another fundamental element in his practice is the clever use of space, which consent the viewer to move the gaze freely from one stylistic element to another, facilitating reflection and meditation. The negative space resulting from symbols and calligraphic signs forms a sense of openness, which metaphorically leads to infinity. Full and empty spaces can be seen as opposites but also as complementary elements, which confer a sense of rhythm and musicality to his works. The magical attributes that guard against evil and misfortunes can be found in the mystical symbolism carried by numbers, signs, letters and geometrical forms which have stimulated his interest also in algebra, optics and astronomy (Christie’s Dubai: Modern and Contemporary Art).
Khaled Ben Slimane is a follower of Sufism and employs calligraphy and geometry in his intimate quest for spirituality. He has absorbed the lessons of influential master potters in Tunisia and abroad, in particular in Europe as much as in the Far East. By merging the traditional ceramics techniques with the repetition of religious inspired words, formula and verses, he has conceived his own personal artistic world. In his works, he seeks to revive the Tunisian ceramic tradition but modifies it with his personal taste and makes it the tool to convey his search for a deeper meaning of life.
Dialoghi Mediterranei, n. 75, settembre 2025
[*] Abstract
Uno dei campi artistici in cui la Tunisia eccelle e per il quale è internazionalmente nota è quello della ceramica. Bellissimi oggetti di foggia diversa, riccamente decorati con motivi geometrici o naturalistici provenienti per lo più dalla tradizione Berbera, Arabo-Andalusa ed Islamica, impreziosiscono gli interni di case e palazzi. Gli stessi motivi della tradizione abbinati ad una tecnica di produzione encomiabile si ritrovano nelle opere d’arte di famosi artisti contemporanei. Uno tra tutti è Khaled Ben Slimane, ceramista e intellettuale. L’artista ha scoperto un’inclinazione per la ceramica da ragazzo e nella sua pratica artistica ha combinato la conoscenza tecnica e stilistica, appresa all’università ed ampliata nel corso di frequenti viaggi in Asia, con una profonda riflessione sulla spiritualità, la religiosità e l’esistenzialismo. Ben Slimane ha abbracciato il Sufismo e nelle sue opere usa spesso ripetere la stessa lettera, parola o verso del Corano, come ad esempio ألله (Allah, Dio) or هو (huwa, Egli), raggiungendo nel corso del processo creativo uno stato di estasi e di purificazione che gli permette di unirsi con il divino, fine ultimo del suo percorso spirituale.
Riferimenti bibliografici
Khaled Ben Slimane, interviewed by Marianne Catzaras, Céramique de Tunisie/Ceramics of Tunisia, Simpact, Tunis, 2004.
Rose Issa, Juliet Cestar and Venetia Porter, Signs of our times from Calligraphy to Calligraffiti, Merrell Publishers Ltd, London and New York, 2016.
Anastasia Nysten, ‘Museum Acquisitions, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis’, Selections Art magazine, 55, July 6, 2021 https://selectionsarts.com/museum-acquisitions-minneapolis-institute-of-art-minneapolis/ (accessed August 11, 2025)
Mary Nooter Roberts, reviewed work: ‘Khaled Ben Slimane. The brush dances and the ink sings by Rose Issa’, African Arts, 29/3, Special Issue: Africa95 (Summer 1996): 90-9, 96 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3337351 (accessed August 6, 2025)
Venetia Porter, Word into Art – Artists of the Modern Middle East, The British Museum Press, London, 2006.
Habeeb Salloum, ‘The Wonderful World of Tunisian Ceramics’, ArabAmerica, September 28, 2016, https://www.arabamerica.com/wonderful-world-tunisian-ceramics/#widget1 (accessed August 7, 2025)
‘About the Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East display’, V&A Museum, London https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/about-the-contemporary-ceramic-art-from-the-middle-east-display (accessed August 11, 2025)
Christie’s Dubai: Modern and Contemporary Art, auction on March 18, 2017
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6061382 (accessed August 14, 2025)
‘Khaled Ben Slimane’ https://culturalnarratives.art/khaled-ben-slimane/ (accessed August 9, 2025)
What is a Japanese Living National Treasure? The British Museum channel on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPTatD_UraE&t=101s (accessed August 7, 2025)
‘Moderno tunisino. Intervista con Lilia Ben Salah’, Artribune, August 9, 2018, https://www.artribune.com/professioni-e-professionisti/mercato/2018/08/reportage-tunisia-intervista-lilia-ben-salah-elmarsa/ (accessed August 11, 2025)
‘The history of pottery and ceramics in Tunisia’ https://tunartis.com/the-history-of-pottery-and-ceramics-in-tunisia/ (accessed August 7, 2025)
https://www.galerielmarsa.com/artists/48-khaled-ben-slimane/biography/ (accessed August 8, 2025)
‘Solo Show “Shadow Architecture, Oratories of Light by Khaled Ben Slimane”’, July 17, 2018 https://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/khaled_ben_slimane/ (accessed August 9, 2025).
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Roberta Marin, ha conseguito la laurea in Lettere Moderne con indirizzo storico-artistico all’Università di Trieste e ha completato il suo corso di studi con un Master in Arte Islamica e Archeologia presso la School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) dell’Università di Londra. Ha viaggiato a lungo nell’area mediterranea e il suo campo di interesse comprende l’arte e l’architettura mamelucca, la storia dei tappeti orientali e l’arte moderna e contemporanea del mondo arabo, iraniano e turco. Collabora con la Khalili Collection of Islamic Art e insegna arte e architettura islamica in istituzioni pubbliche e private nel Regno Unito e in Italia.
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