Music From the Past and The Future

 The music is colorful, intense. It calls from the past and projects into the future, all while having magical roots in the present — Selim Harbi

In his work Colours of the Invisible, Selim Harbi is inspired by the Stambeli ceremonies which are rooted in the traditions of the nomadic sub-Saharan Tuareg people. 

 Stambeli is a  traditional music genre with a  kind of spiritual fervor. Over the years, this traditional music has absorbed different languages and developed as a perfect model of cultural syncretism.

The music is used in both  celebration and in healing traditions, and as Selim says ''reminds  us Tunisians of our history and sense of belonging.''

Stambeli is based on a seven colored spiritual system, with each color appealing to different natural elements and soul moods. Each of the seven sections serves a different purpose in the spirit realm. 

Selim compares Stembeli to a spaceship which can travel through space and time and says that he understands the concept of Stembeli to be futuristic.

Through the Stembile rituals it is possible to see that, as Selim says, ''everything is connected in the universe, the visible and the invisible.''

The title of the work, Colours of the Invisible is influenced by the feeling of interconnectedness Selim feels. As he states ''the invisible has all the colors, and all the moods. It's all an imagination or a manifestation of the spirit.''