Conversation with the artist Dounia Chemsseddoha

Delving into the supernatural and spiritual, in her artistic practice Dounia Chemsseddoha explores the spaces between the visible and the invisible world.
Her installations summon the occult and celebrate all living things, in opposition with our era, which is paralyzed by the artificial. Like a faith healer, she sanctifies life and strives to connect with the biosphere.

Her project during the residency aims at provoking a tipping point between artistic and artisanal practices. She will collect essential elements of the territory: plants, flowers, and earth from Drôme Provençale, in order to create hybrid objects that may be worn on the body, and which are reminiscent of fonts containing medicinal water and oil. Her quest? To rekindle our perceptive memory; a form of memory engendered by the senses, so that we humans may discover a new intimacy with nature.

In 2021 Dounia Chemsseddoha took part in the SAISONS ZÉRO “hibernation” residency at the Monastère des Clarisses, Roubaix. In 2020 she did a research residency on nature and the sacred, along with artist Béatrice Darmagnac. Her recent exhibitions: 16H30Chantier festival, Périgueux (2021); La 16ème station duo show with Béatrice Darmagnac, Galerie de l’Arthothèque, Gondrin (2020); Seize 9e: remarkable showings of short films, Bordeaux. In 2021 Dounia Chemsseddoha received grants from: TRAVERSÉES, CIPAC, FRAAP, réseau Diagonal, and the AIA DRAC Occitanie.

Location: Salle des fêtes, Montbrun-les-Bains