Tunisian Tapestry – a North African journey

  Around the Mediterranean Sea you’ll find the most intense blues, most often as doors, windows, gates and shutters.  It’s a way of inviting the sea and sky into the man-made spaces.  Of sharing the refreshing beauty, the coolness and the clarity. It’s a color both calming and invigorating, and I have a hard time passing a blue door without snapping a photo of it.

Here is Tunisia, I’m discovering another palette, the runs counterpoint to the Mediterranean blue and white, punctuated by bright blossoms of rich red and impossible pinks and corals that seem to glow from within.

It is the palette of Spices.  The rich earth tones of the spice merchant, that conjure up images of camel caravans and crowded souks.

Whether the full to bursting sacks of the souk in the Medina or the ceramic dishes  with their perfect conical hills of spices in carts near the seafront

The colors invoke heady scent-memories for anyone who has been here.  And both palettes come together in the traditional ceramics and carpets also on offer in souks and seafront marketplaces.

I’ve been having some adventures with the Tunisian Postal Service of late . . .  it’s always a challenge dealing with the post in various countries, a kind of guessing game about the protocols and what to ask for and how to ask for it.

I mostly use email for my correspondence, but as a working artist with clients in other parts of the world, I do periodically need to interface with snail mail.  I have to say that the Tunisian Post  when sending abroad, at least, certainly lives up to the moniker snail mail.  So far I have sent 3 small flat parcels- one took 6 weeks to the US West coast, one took 4 weeks to Vienna, Austria, and the 3rd is still in transit going on 3 months ( suspect that one may be lost forever).  We shall see.

There is something called Rapide Post,  (affiliated with DHL and FedEx) which claims to take 3-4 days, worldwide, however their lowest fee is more than the price of some of my smaller watercolors–so it’s not terribly practical in those cases.

Going to my local post office, a 7-minute walk, is a true adventure, waiting times within the post office routinely start at 15 minutes and go up from there — my last foray took 45 minutes (not counting the walk on both directions.  The upside to all this (if there is one) is that standard mailing costs are incredibly cheap (less than 50 cents) I guess you get what you pay for, sort of.

Incoming mail fares better, so far it seems to take about 3 weeks from abroad.  One of the things I love about my walk to the post office is the assortment of really beautiful letter boxes set into the walls of the gardens along the way.

An artist friend dubbed them “shrines to the art of letter-writing” — that makes me smile whenever I walk down the residential streets here.  I don’t know how many letters actually pass through these portals, but the idea that someone cares enough about correspondence to create lovely receptacles for it, pleases me.

Tunisian cities, like those in Mexico and Italy,  are filled with an amazing assortment of graceful gateways.  This is, in part, because in this climate much of life is enjoyed outdoors.  In order to keep the outdoor space private, everything has a wall, and a wall needs gates!

The gates in our neighborhood run the gamut from extraordinarily ornate:

to discreet and functional:

I love wandering the street with my camera, I know the local people wonder what I am up to . . . but the design elements are so inspiring I just can’t resist! Besides, I certainly don’t blend in, so I might as well stand out for a reason.

A very graphic, pen & ink style graces one corner, while across they street a more fanciful arabesque invites you in . . .

This one seems like it must lead to a secret garden . . .

and this one is simply regal . . .

October 23rd is Election Day in Tunisia  . . . the country that sparked the Arab Spring, where I now live, is about to hold the first free and open elections since the overthrow of the BenAli government, some say the first real elections in 53 years.

The political spectrum has gone from 9 to 108 political parties! The range of ideas and ideals is breathtaking under any circumstances, but in light of the lack of real choice for several generations, for some Tunisians it is mind-numbing. 45% of the candidate have listed themselves as Independent, refusing to align with any political party, which many here see as a sign that Tunisians are quite serious about taking control of their destiny.

Even our local bakery has gotten into the act — this exhortation to vote came wrapped around some luscious cookies last week . . . it says(essentially)

because the Tunisian people have never had such an occasion to write history, because every citizen has in his hands the keys of his own destiny, we must unite in order not to miss this appointment with our History, more than ever let’s be players in our destiny. . .VOTE!

Can’t argue with that sentiment!

The new Assembly will have 217 members. The newly elected Constituent Assembly will also have the power to either appoint a new government or extend the current one’s term.  Senior party members of the disbanded former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally will be banned from standing in the election if they were in politics within the last ten years. Originally, the ban would have applied to all former senior party members (spanning 23 years instead of 10), but this was revised after protests by former RCD members who claim they left the party when it was clear that the party was unwilling to allow the opposition a voice in government

A few quick facts about the current situation for Tunisian women:

• 26.6% of the workforce is female
• Women held 27.6% of parliamentary seats in pre-revolutionary Tunisia
• Tunisia is the only country in the Arab world where polygamy is forbidden by law
• Half of the candidates on each party list in this election must be female
• Women have, at least on paper, equality with men; there are currently no laws regarding dress, women are allowed to own property and businesses, vote, drive cars, get any type of education they desire.

The most ardent campaigners I have encountered have been women between 30 and 45.

Tunisians abroad will elect their representatives on 20–22 October 2011. Like expats of all stripes, they are expected to vote close to 90%– an interesting phenomenon that . . . seeing one’s country from the outside often makes voters care more about politics not less.

Wish Tunisia well. Wish the voters the clarity to really hear what is being said. Wish the election observers  and the independents the strength of their convictions. Wish the politicians the ability to LISTEN to the people. Wish for hope to prevail, and set a new standard for the world, an example that real change is possible.