Catalog of the Algerian Design, New Generation exhibition organized by Abdelkader Abdi at the Via gallery, in Paris in 2003. The artist shares his fame with the new generation and their works pay homage to him. A precursor of a post-modernism that does not deny tradition, Abdi has given birth to talent.

The Algerian Prime Minister, Ali Benflis, went to salute Thursday, January 16, the talent of designer Abdelkader Abdi at the Via gallery exhibition, organized by Abdi, an artist whose fame already extends well beyond Algerian borders, highlights the "new generation" of Algerian designers. The works of twenty-eight artists on the theme of habitat were exhibited there until February 23, 2003.

Couscoussières and elastomer

 "I'm a bit like their dad," explains Abdi. He wanted to hand over, "open doors" to the younger generation. His work marked the entry of Algerian design into post-modernism and he forged a style which largely influenced his successors. If each of them develops a universe of its own, we recognize in the objects exhibited a mixture of ultra-modern materials (stainless steel, elastomer, nylon, thermoformed glass, metal, dacryl, etc.), refined lines and a return to sources. Everyday objects remain anchored in Algerian culture: the couscoussières by Samir Hamiane, the coffee table in the shape of a tea tray by Feriel Gasmi, are some examples. Inspired by both Starck and Brancusi, Algerian design draws the curves of modernity without denying its origins.

This comes from a desire that has always driven Abdi. » I wanted the objects to be displayed on beds of spices. The opening day, it was so smelly! We can say without pun that it was a spicy evening," laughs the designer. The return to Algerian culture, and more broadly to daily life in North African countries, is permanent in the collection. And Abdi wrote: "May this set of objects presented by Algerian designers at Via allow France and Algeria to consider their exhibition not as a simple regional cultural event but rather as an event of interest to the Maghreb as a whole and contributing, to its extent, to the formation of a movement that unites Europe and Africa.

Algerian Design, New Generation
Author(s): Abdelkader Abdi
Publisher: SBS Éditions
French language
Publication: 2003