Six questions to Yesmine Ben Khelil

How would you describe the typical situation that leads to the development of your projects? What are the most recurrent stages in the elaboration of a project?

Initially, I try to immerse myself in the place and the context. It is a very broad research phase, including, for example, the space in which the work will be exhibited, the city and, more generally, the region in which the space is located (its history, its urban fabric, its geography, the activities and resources that characterize it…). It is a kind of investigation, not a scientific or rigorous one, for it involves working from memories and the state of mind I am in at that moment, although this does not always have a direct connection to the place. After collecting as many elements as possible, I weave the links; then, for some reason I cannot explain, a narrative emerges and everything seems to fall into place.

What is the potential you see in fiction as a special political language?

I think fiction allows us to convey what eludes simple representation, making us perceive the full complexity of reality, which is indeed often elusive and tends to become diluted when we try to show it directly.

In what way does the proposal you developed for Pensare come una montagna dialogue with elements of the local context?

What struck me most about Bergamo is the abundance of nature, but a nature that seems very controlled. Exhibiting in a botanical garden prompted me to reflect on this view of the nonhuman as a chaotic element that must be controlled, ordered, and conserved. This way of viewing nature has become widespread; but where I live, the lack of means to control and conserve nature creates a permanent state of conflict, where it is often perceived as a threat or an obstacle. Paradoxically, in this context where nature manifests itself just below the surface of fragile human infrastructure, it becomes easier to perceive that humans are just one element among many within the ecosystem. In Bergamo, the landscape is so well studied that it is misleading, and it is only by looking toward the mountains that we can overcome this illusion. I tried to incorporate this duality into my proposal.

What does feeling a real sense of belonging to a place mean for you?

For me, a sense of belonging is built through all the experiences that bind us to a place: memories, emotional ties, and the way the outer space shapes us internally until it becomes part of us.

Apart from communicating with the community or with individuals, how would you define a collective practice?

Although an artistic work is often perceived as an individual process and, in my case, there is something solitary about its creation, I still see it as an essentially collective practice. Viewers are involved in the exhibition just as much as in the creation stage, and a form of interdependence is created. Moreover, the work is the result of multiple influences, collaborations, exchanges and shared references that enrich the creative process.

Is there something you Apart from communicating with the community or with individuals, how would you define a collective practice?

Although an artistic work is often perceived as an individual process and, in my case, there is something solitary about its creation, I still see it as an essentially collective practice. Viewers are involved in the exhibition just as much as in the creation stage, and a form of interdependence is created. Moreover, the work is the result of multiple influences, collaborations, exchanges and shared references that enrich the creative process.