Travelling Exhibitions

Fanon, Usedik and Pečar in Fanon's apartment in Tunisia (1960/61)
MAA Documentation

Upon his return from Tunisia/Algeria, Zdravko Pečar defended his doctoral thesis and very quickly after that published his findings in book format, titled Algeria to Independence, while Fanon’s essay Algeria Unveiled became one of the anchors for the Italian-Algerian production The Battle of Algiers (1966), directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and filmed barely a few years after Algerian independence. With the support of Casbah Entertainment production company, the exhibition also shows a curatorial selection of film sequences that mostly illustrate the role and position of Algerian women in the war of liberation, while also paying tribute to Yassef Sadi (1928-2021), based on whose memoirs this incredible film was made, and in which he plays the role of himself under the name Jafar.

The Battle of Algiers, poster
MAU Documentation

The heroes and heroines who were actual historical protagonists of Algeria’s decolonization, were also the connecting thread between Fanon, Pečar, Pontecorvo... as well as other players, such as Veda Zagorac, who at the time was cultural and information attaché at the Yugoslav Embassy in Tunisia. By exhibiting documents, photographs, publications and other materials, the exposition presents evidence of active Yugoslav presence in Algeria, and above all Zdravko Pečar and Veda Zagorac – on the front lines of the struggle for the decolonization of Africa.

El Mujahid Newspaper, MAU Library
Photo: Vlada Popović

Why not a “war”?

The Algerian War was one of the longest and bloodiest wars of decolonization, partly because Algeria was considered an integral part of France. For a long time, it was referred to with the use of phrases such as “a war without a name”, “war of an unspeakable name”, or described with epithets like “events”, “armed action”, “police operation”, “actions to maintain order”, “operations to restore civil peace”, or “peace operations” - anything but war, the name for the mass sacrifice of people on both sides; just not the rebellion of the indigenous population trapped in a racist society dominated by the exploitative attitude of the colonists (European settlers) towards the Muslim population; anything but a great deception of being equal under the French nation. In this sense, the authors of the exhibition believed that the absolutist, blinded and unshakable character of racist consciousness and the entire history of colonization is best expressed by the phrase “this is not war”.

Exhibition opening at DKSG Gallery

Exhibition display at DKSG Gallery

Foyer of the National Opera and Ballet, Skopje

24 November – 16 December 2022

The idea to work on the Algerian war of independence based on archival and documentary materials at the MAU, following the December 2021 exhibition, underwent an elaboration for purposes of complementing the international exhibition and public programme “WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?: On the non-aligned decolonial constellation“, curated by Ivana Vaseva and Bojana Piškur, as part of AKTO Festival in Skoplje (24/11– 16/12/2022). The exhibition was opened in the extraordinary space of the National Opera and Ballet, and the accompanying talks at the Jadro Center (presentation by curators Ana Knežević and Emilia Epštajn, from the 42nd min).

Exhibition poster
Design: Koma design studio

As part of an international exhibition with a large number of participants, "THIS IS NOT A WAR" took the form of performative archive, through the merging of various media and archival materials that follow the anti-colonial thought and work of Zdravko Pečar and Veda Zagorac related to the liberation of Algeria, and its connection with Franz Fanon. The exhibition’s special focus was the position of women in the Algerian War, complemented in reflection by the video work of contemporary Algerian artist Amina Zoubir entitled "LOVE ALL WOMEN LIKE YOU LOVE YOUR MOTHER".

A special publication was prepared for the exhibition.

Opening of the exhibition in the building of the National Opera and Ballet
(Photo: Nataša Geleva)

Exhibition display at the building of the National Opera and Ballet