Image Keepers (Gardiennes d'images)

Zineb Sedira’s video features an interview with Safia Kouaci, widow of Algerian photojournalist Mohamed Kouaci, whose documentation of his country’s colonial and independent history has largely been overlooked. The interview takes place at Safia’s home, where she maintains an archive of her late husband’s images. This collection records Kouaci’s work in 1950s Paris, where he was involved with the Algerian National Liberation Front, and his life in exile in Tunis, where he worked for the Ministry of Information of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic. It also traces his return to Algeria after independence to work as the government’s official photographer. Sedira’s video touches on several key historical events that have affected the lives of the artist and her interviewee.