FONDEMA Art Exhibition: “Torn Together” by Orza Tanem
By Antonia Bartel. Pictures by Hester Dijkstra.
The 13th of April 2016 marked the opening of a three-day exhibition in the Expo room at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Hague. The exhibition “Torn Together” was hosted by FONDEMA, a foundation that fosters economic and cultural cooperation with partners from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
For additional Hester Dijkstra’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157667374031325
The paintings by Ms. Orza Tanem allowed guests to view and connect to the paintings in a very special way. Ms. Tanem , who is of Algerian origin, is a well-established artist whose works have also been exhibited at the Grand Palais and Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. She is renowned for her style of painting that fuses impressionism and expressionism, she has created her own artistic movement called emotionalism (Emotionnisme).
With this movement she challenges her emotions to the canvas using the energy of different colours. With this, she manages to touch both the mind and spirit of the viewer. Her paintings are strong and vivid and allow for the reflection of ones own emotions when viewing them. With her combinations of colour she succeeds in setting a vivid and realistic scene and simultaneously allowing the viewer to connect with ones own emotions and images.
The opening of the exhibition was commenced by a speech of Mrs. Eveline Van Tinteren-America, the founder and director of FONDEMA. In her speech she highlighted how FONDEMA’s mission “to work together towards renewed understanding between cultures for the well-being of all” was incorporated in this exhibition. Furthermore, the Councillor for Culture of the City of The Hague, Mr. Joris Wijsmuller formally declared the exhibition as opened and stressed the importance of art in the dialogue of bringing people closer together.
Additionally, a short interview with Ms. Tanem followed, giving more insight into her paintings and the development of her style. The ceremony was brought to a close by the reading of a beautiful poem written by Ms. Tanem’s friend Bernard Munsch.
Among the distinguished guests were the Councillor for Culture of the City of The Hague, the Minister Councillor and Attaché Culturel of the Algerian Embassy , the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as many others.
Guests could enjoy the paintings -for sale- and conversations with some delightful beverages as well as dates and Algerian sweets, made by Ms. Tanem herself. The sweets were art in themselves and complimented the atmosphere of the evening nicely.
