La Rose et l'Ortie Poem

Description:

Pairing the hope for a blossoming future of independence with the pain of thorns and nettle, this collaborative book explores violence and hope in the war for independence and the complex relationships in Algeria which vacillate between love and conflict. The introspective yet overtly anti-colonial poems written between 1959-1961 are coupled with Khadda’s illustrations, which layer abstractions of sign systems and reference Algeria’s ancestral heritage. The juxtaposition of these art forms exemplifies what Sénac coined as “poé-peintrie,” the exploration of the fusion between painting and poetry. Translation below: “The Rose and the Nettle” Some moments some cries the rose and the nettle. Then the long breath. The page that covers us as we come out of the sea. To go to you a tunnel of thorns an arrogance of foam dawn. To return, the sun and always the tunnel of thorns.

Attribution:

Jean Sénac, Mohammed Khadda

Date:

1964

Source:

Private collection of Anneka Lenssen