No one has ever taken a flight from Montreal to Tunis to learn to dance salsa. But this trip, which is intended to go against the grain, begins like this. And as the first advice from our host, Inès Khiari (“Avoid taxis inside the airport, you will get fooled”), served us well, confidence reigns when she suggests a stop at the association L’Art Rue, in the heart of the medina (the old town). Along the way, she tackles her university journey in Waterloo, Ontario, and in the small town in Quebec where her boyfriend moved. “Do you know L’Anse-Saint-Jean? » No time to dwell on the reign of Dionysius Iis monarch of this municipality, that we learn to count the steps. When the session ends, the young engineer suggests: “Tomorrow evening, there is a contemporary dance show, you might find something more to your liking there. » 1-0 Tunis.
In gel
Art station B7L9. Bhar Lazreg, north of the city. A dancer from the Volcà company informs us that we are an hour early. As the minutes pass, the black and white striped building, which clashes endlessly in this uncertain neighborhood, fills up. The show, created by choreographer Malou Rédarès, stars Aymen Trabelsi, Cédric Mbourou, Yassine Kharrat and Fatma Balti — also a set designer. The Jelda project developed around the theme of borders. The polysemy of the title, which in Arabic refers to the skin (the epidermis, the surface), is expressed most obviously, under the eyes of a hundred people, by immense removable partitions manipulated by the dancers.
When Duty joins Fatma Balti, she is in a creative residency in Lyon. An architect by training, she chose this discipline because it embodies the meeting between science and art, the relationship between space and the ergonomics of the body. She came to dance quite late (rather “returned”, because she danced younger), with the idea of “moving into something more free”.
In his opinion, Jelda is the kind of creation that should be born in the coming years in Tunisia. “Closer to humans, to our reality, to our relationship with borders… Both those which require us to obtain a visa to travel and those which relate to the social and personal spheres. » If the show was sold out, she believes that it is above all because the dancers are connected to their community. “Contemporary dance is not a mainstream thing. Generally, the people who come to the performances have a connection with art. »
Thünder Vega
The dark magic of algorithms soon tells us that the roof of the B7L9 building, belonging to the Kamel Lazaar foundation, will host a metal concert. The headliner, Saharage, sounds like a version of Soulfly parachuted into the Gnaoua festival in Essaouira. The other group, Thünder Vega, has a name that reflects its music: heavy and with cosmic tendencies. The evening of the event, when the trio took the stage, the bassist’s first words were a nod to Motörhead: “ We are Thünder Vega… and we try to play rock’n’roll. » A shot of fuzz and everything around us starts nodding. Shifting the frame a little, it’s as charming as the paradise that opens through the emergency door.
Thünder Vega is the project of Wahid Walter Rehouma, alias Walter Vega. Tunisian father, Swiss mother. Late thirties, long hair, motorcycle boots, Thunderbird bass. “At the beginning, I wanted something solo, with riffs rhythmic enough to stand on its own. But, as they say in English, happiness is only real when shared. Thünder Vega transformed into a stoner rock band inspired by Monster Magnet and Black Sabbath. » The line-up was expanded with the arrival of singer Cynthia Yahiaoui and a suite of drummers, in the purest Spinal Tap tradition. At B7L9, the man who beats the rhythm is Selim Bouladi. The late dancer Myriam Marzouki adds to the performance. Amine Mongalgi, bassist and friend of the group, joins them for a few songs.
Like the contemporary dance audience, the metal audience is rather “select” in Tunisia. Walter Vega, who divides his time between several musical projects, including Hemlyn and Shade, specifies: “All told, the fans must total 4,000 to 6,000 people. Last summer, Carthagods and Barzakh [deux groupes phares tunisiens] played at the Carthage festival. There must have been 2000 people. »
According to the musician, Tunis was proud, a few years ago, of having more alternative places. “Around 2006-2008, the longest period that could pass between two concerts was two weeks. » Many stage actors have left the country. Others have retrained as wedding musicians. Rare groups manage to stand out from the crowd. “The typical example is Myrath, who played at Hellfest. But they happen once a year in Tunisia. It’s a microscene. We are almost nothing, overall. »
Eddisco
A few days after the Thünder Vega concert, word of mouth (and algorithms) led us to Eddisco: the only vinyl record store in town, incidentally run by one of the most prominent figures in the Tunisian electronic scene: Hamdi Toukabri, known as DJ Hamdi RydEr.
Eddisco is a project born from the house collective Downtown Vibes. A small store, in an apartment, which only opens by appointment. Hamdi RydEr explains: “I started Downtown Vibes parties on the roof of my house in 2013. It was “post-2011”. The cops had become a little more cool…” Invited to Berlin in 2018, RydEr discovered record stores that operated by appointment. “On our return, we opened the shop in Tunis with a small collection of 500 or 600 records. » In 2019, the English media The Vinyl Factory reported on Eddisco as part of its series The World’s Best Record Shops. “Since then, we have had access to a new clientele: music-loving travelers. »
Having found himself alone with the project during the pandemic, Hamdi RydEr turned to online sales. “At the same time, with a friend, we launched a label on [la plateforme] Bandcamp. » Through the Eddisco label, the DJ recently released a remix of the piece Dance from the Tunisian disco-funk group Corniche Band. “It was my uncle’s band!” » The kind of nugget that a label like Habibi Funk, based in Berlin, has been reissuing for several years. “Jannis Stürtz, from Habibi funk, I met him in Tunis before he released his first record. He even came to play for free for Downtown Vibes in 2015.” Like many others, Hamdi RydEr would like to see locals take care of the dissemination of North African and Middle Eastern heritage. “But it’s not easy. There are no vinyl presses in North Africa. And the management stories in euros with the Tunisian central bank are complicated. »
During our interview, Hamdi RydEr was returning from the MOGA festival in Morocco. “ [Là-bas,] if there aren’t super-known headliners, it’s empty. Here in Tunis, with 80% local DJs, you can attract 1000 people. » In this country where a large proportion of the population is aged 15 to 34, and where the unemployment rate among young people under 24 is around 40%, the problem seems above all, according to Hamdi RydEr, to be manage to perform abroad. “It comes with a lot of stress. The status of professional artist does not apply to us [les DJ et musiciens électroniques] that for five years… For the moment, I have a Schengen visa, but with what is happening in the world, it is becoming a little complicated. »
