Selma and Sofiane Ouissi are graduates of the Conservatory of Music and Dance and of the National Centre of Dance, in Tunis, and holders of the French State diploma of dance. The duo’s personal creations include STOP … BOOM (2004) and Waçl (2007), which have been presented several times in Arab countries and in Europe. In collaboration with digital-arts creator Yacine Sebti, they have created the choreographic piece Here(s), both remotely and in real time using Skype. It has been touring since 2011. That same year, in collaboration with director Cécil Thuillier and filmmaker Nicolas Sburlati, they produced a choreographic film inspired by the work of the female potters of Sejnane, which was shown at the Paris Triennale in the Palais de Tokyo, the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the New Museum in New York, the Garage Triennial in Moscow, etc. Continuing their research into the ancestral gestures of the Sejnane artisans, they responded to an invitation for a new creation on the occasion of the Marseille-Provence European Capital of Culture in 2013, with a choreographic/documentary piece entitled Laaroussa. As part of their Performing Room project, Tate Modern in London invited the pair to create Les Yeux d’Argos (2014), a choreographic piece on a planetary scale for an audience of Internet users. Given the success of this collaboration, Tate Modern invited them to rethink the concept for the Do Disturb festival at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in April 2015. In 2007, Selma and Sofiane Ouissi founded the Tunisian association L’Art Rue, dedicated to the production and dissemination of contemporary art in public space. Within this structure, where a range of artistic disciplines coexist and intersect wih academic thought, the duo has created the multidisciplinary biennial of contemporary art in public space; Dream City, an artistic factory in the rural region of Laaroussa; and the quarterly Tunisian magazine Z.A.T. (Temporary Artistic Zone). They have developed an entire programme of support for young contemporary Tunisian performance and a youth audience programme.
