Until 5 September 2025, Tabari Artspace in Dubai is holding Tenté par d’autres soleils (Tempted by Other Suns), a solo exhibition by Franco-Tunisian artist Béchir Boussandel. Building on its earlier iteration in Tunis, this expanded presentation continues Boussandel’s materially experimental inquiry into displacement, survival, and the quiet poetry of everyday resilience.
The exhibition, which takes its title from a reflection by philosopher Claire Marin (“Like migratory birds, we are always tempted by other suns”), features Boussandel’s signature aerial canvases. Soaked in water and exposed to natural forces, they are layered with oil pigments later. These abstract compositions resemble eroded landscapes or topographical memories. They are not literal maps but affective terrains that speak to the liminal experiences of diasporic life.
New to the Dubai presentation of Tempted By Other Suns is a series of blown glass sculptures that extend the artist’s exploration of vulnerability and survival. Central to this series is the figure of the berbasha, a gleaner who collects discarded plastics in Tunis. Inspired by a sketch of a plastic bottle with a bird perched atop, Boussandel created a collection of sculptural vessels that speak to precarity, marginality, and invisible labour.
These glass pieces are made from casts of real plastic bottles, later transformed into plaster moulds and blown into glass in collaboration with Sadika, a Tunisian glass studio. Each vessel is capped with birds cast in aluminium or copper: forms that symbolise stilled migration. They suggest that the freedom to move is never guaranteed; it is shaped and often constrained by material, social, and political realities.
About the artist
A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Dunkerque, Béchir Boussandel (b. 1984, Dunkirk, France) divides his time between France and Tunisia. His practice, which spans painting, sculpture, and installation, is shaped by a constant negotiation between these geographies, delving into themes of migration, memory, and transformation.
His creative process often begins in Bizerte, on the rooftop of his family’s home. There, he submits blank canvases to natural elements. Back in the studio, layers of oil pigment are added, transforming these surfaces into dreamlike aerial vistas. This balance between intention and unpredictability, between fragility and persistence, forms the emotional and material core of Boussandel’s work.
Boussandel has displayed his works in many exhibitions and art fairs, such as SG Singapore (Whitestone Gallery, Singapore, 2024); Windows of the Soul (Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong, China, 2023); MENA Art Fair artfair (Montresso art foundation, Paris, France, 2023); The sun sets in the east (solo) (Taymour Grahne Gallery, London, UK, 2022); and Ici le monde (Institut du Monde Arabe, Tourcoing Artmontpellier, Artskop3437, Montpellier, France, 2020).
His artworks are part of esteemed public collections, including the Ministry of Culture and Youth (Abu Dhabi), Deji Art Museum (Shanghai, China), and Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden (MACAAL) (Morocco).
To get more information about Tempted By Other Suns, please go to the official web page of the exhibition.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting Garden of Murmurs by Malik Thomas Jalil Kydd and the Abstract Art Exhibition at Kutubna Cultural Center.
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