Culture is future » Territorial attractiveness and social cohesion

Always further - After the revolution, the relieving of the Tunisian culture

Only months after the Jasmine Revolution, free festivals start to reappear in Tunisia. The first one being “Doc a Tunis”, which took place in late April. It brought together a large audience, showing documentaries about the Tunisian and the Egyptian revolutions. As for the 2011 edition of the “Tunis Dance Festival”, it attracted fewer people, for there still remains the question of the public.

After the totalitarianism of Ben Ali, it is now the one of fundamentalist Islamists which threats this cultural development. During the Dance Festival, fanatics blocked the access to the theater, but were then dispersed by the police.

Still, we should be happy of those initiatives, which attest of a cultural dynamism after years of oppression. These new dancers, choreographs, and more generally Tunisian artists reflect the evolution of mentalities, in particular within the young people. We welcome these festivals with optimism, for they are manifestations of a freedom of expression that continues to forge the critical and political sense of the Tunisian youth.

To go further

Credits: paul appleyard

A contribution of SciencesPo. Paris / Cécile Schublin