Spiritual Earth: A New Exhibition by Sami Ben Ameur
A project that brings together a series of works questioning the relationship between humans, the earth, and the spirit, in a world marked by fragility and conflict. "Terre Spirituelle" (Spiritual Earth) is the title of a new solo exhibition by visual artist Sami Ben Ameur, which will take place from October 3 to 31, 2025, at the Palais Kheireddine Gallery, Museum of the City of Tunis. Sami Ben Ameur presented a project composed of about 40 works produced between 2024 and 2025, in a statement to the TAP agency on Sunday. These works are mixed media on canvas and wood, mostly large format. In "Terre Spirituelle", he opts for the square (150/150cm) or the circle (150cm in diameter) as a reference to the Earth, since the square is inscribed in the circle. This project brings together a series of works that question the relationship between humans, the earth, and the spirit, in a world marked by fragility and conflict, as stated in the summary presented by the artist. Through a pictorial writing nourished by colors, materials, and symbols, the artist proposes a reflection where memory, culture, and current events intersect. Some works bear the trace of the wounds of Gaza and other scarred places, reminding us that art can become a silent cry in the face of violence while opening spaces for meditation and hope. "Terre Spirituelle" is thus a place of dialogue and questioning, where art goes beyond aesthetics to invite us to reinvent our connection to the earth and humanity.
The Artist's Background
Sami Ben Ameur's painting, composed of calligraphy tinged with symbols, is a translation of his quest for spontaneity. This quest is visible in his previous exhibitions in various galleries in the capital, including "Terre Vénérée" (2007), "Terre Originelle" (2009), "Nature Intime" (2016), and "Ether et Mélodie" (2018). In 2016, he presented a project bringing together several artists as part of the "SOS Borj en péril" event organized by the "Amis des Arts plastiques" association in Borj El Kallel, Sfax. In addition to his career as a visual artist, Sami Ben Ameur is the author of specialized books on the history of art. A former graduate of the Tunis School of Fine Arts and the Sorbonne in Paris, he is an emeritus professor at the University of Tunis. He is notably the author of the "Dictionnaire de la terminologie des arts visuels" (Dictionary of Visual Arts Terminology), a book in Arabic published in 2021 by "Al-Mokaddima" editions.
Published Works
Developed over three decades of his academic career, the content of this book, which covers 125 terms over 760 pages, is based on well-documented research, including courses, studies, conferences, and scientific debates. In "Dictionnaire de la terminologie des arts visuels", Ben Ameur undertakes an archaeology of the arts of the Renaissance in Italy, a flourishing period for the practice of arts (painting, sculpture, engraving, drawing, engraving) until Classicism and the emergence of the concept of Fine Arts and new codes in the arts sector. The author then addresses the plastic arts, which, from the 20th century onwards, offered more plastic opportunities for the Fine Arts, opening the way for them to detach themselves from the simulation of basic classical concepts, both in terms of practice and terminology. This book earned him the first Alecso-Sharjah prize for linguistic and lexicographic studies, lexicography section, on December 18, 2022. In 2024, he published "Les arts plastiques en Tunisie: parcours de générations et enjeux esthétiques et culturels" (The Plastic Arts in Tunisia: Generational Paths and Aesthetic and Cultural Challenges), a book with a scientific and cultural vocation composed of four volumes, edited by the Department of Research, Edition, and Bibliography of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunis, at the University of Tunis. "La mémoire artistique en Tunisie et l'avènement de la modernité" (Volume 1, 132 pages in French and 147 pages in Arabic) and "Les pionniers et les groupes artistiques" (Volume 2, 200 pages in French and 292 pages in Arabic) are the first two volumes of this large-format work, published in Arabic and French, richly illustrated with photos of artworks. The book is distributed free of charge in academic and cultural institutions, including universities, libraries, ministries, and other specialized institutions.
Career Highlights
Sami Ben Ameur was in charge of preparing the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, whose inauguration took place on the occasion of the opening of the City of Culture in March 2018. On July 16 of the same year, he presented his resignation to the Minister of Cultural Affairs, citing "conditions hindering the effective launch of the museum".
