L’intérêt pour la création féminine actuelle fait l'objet d'un projet d’étude à l’échelle de la Méditerranée amorcé dans de précédents travaux universitaires. Le choix de la Tunisie s’est naturellement imposé. Les femmes tunisiennes jouissent d’un statut inégalé au Maghreb depuis 1956 et sont de plus en plus nombreuses sur la scène artistique au fil de l’histoire (photographes, vidéastes, peintres, plasticiennes…). Elles façonnent le paysage de la création, tout en témoignant de leur vécu et des bouleversements historiques. L’héritage multiculturel est complexe et parfois contradictoire. Alors comment appréhender l’art conjugué au féminin en Tunisie? Cette thèse s’inscrit dans une démarche exploratoire. Observer les générations d’artistes et leurs créations au fil de l’histoire, rapprocher les thématiques similaires, regrouper les médiums identiques, comparer leurs démarches, leurs profils, leurs préoccupations, telle est la méthode employée pour mener à bien cette réflexion. Les sources essentiellement humaines, sont exploitées selon des axes de recherche précis, et en appellent parfois aux disciplines périphériques à l’histoire de l’art telles que la sociologie ou l’anthropologie. Ces questionnements, rapprochements et observations interrogent les permanences dans la création féminine en Tunisie, malgré des personnalités, des pratiques et démarches différentes. Se pose aussi la question d’une nouvelle conception de l’art, bien éloignée des concepts classiques et modernes. / In post-revolutionary Tunisia, artistic creation is buzzing. The country, subject to political pressure is in the midst of a democratic transition. Led in the field for two years, research has progressed in this context.Interest in contemporary women's creative work is the subject of a Mediterranean-scale study project started in previous university works. Choosing Tunisia for the study was naturally evident. Tunisian women have been enjoying an unrivalled position in Maghreb since 1956 and have been increasingly more present on the artistic stage through history (photographers, video makers, painters...). They are shaping the creative landscape, while bearing witness to their lives and historical changes. The multicultural heritage is complex and sometimes contradictory.So how to grasp women's art in Tunisia?This thesis is incorporated into the framework of an explorative approach. Observing generations of artists and their creations over history, linking similar themes, bringing together the same mediums, comparing their approaches, profiles and preoccupations, that is the way this study was carried out.The sources, mainly people, are used according to very precise lines of research, and sometimes refer to subjects that are surrounding art history such as sociology or anthropology. These questionings, comparisons and observations examine the consistencies in women's creative work in Tunisia, despite different personalities, practices and approaches. The question of a new conception of art, very far from classical and modern concepts, also comes up.

This dissertation explores the concept of reproduction as it relates to processes, images and materials in contemporary art. The concept embraces collaboration, embroidery, fragmentation, diffusion, multiplicity, inclusivity, decentralisation, copy, pastiche and appropriation. The convergence of these practices and ideas in contemporary theories and contemporary art, my own included, is explored. The concept ofreproduction intersects with traditional structures of knowledge and aesthetics, such as those of the Individual Artist, authenticity and the construct of Woman. In the process, these are questioned and inevitably redefined. A re-weaving of female identity, in particular, emerges. At the same time, the traditional notion of reproduction is itself unravelled in order to reveal the ambiguities and multi-layered meanings inherent in the concept. Reproductive or regenerative practices and ideas, as examined here, become an effective force for unfolding the complexities of a female-specific aesthetic and identity, previously reduced by traditional structures. / Fine Arts / M.A. (Fine Arts)

This dissertation explores the concept of reproduction as it relates to processes, images and materials in contemporary art. The concept embraces collaboration, embroidery, fragmentation, diffusion, multiplicity, inclusivity, decentralisation, copy, pastiche and appropriation. The convergence of these practices and ideas in contemporary theories and contemporary art, my own included, is explored. The concept ofreproduction intersects with traditional structures of knowledge and aesthetics, such as those of the Individual Artist, authenticity and the construct of Woman. In the process, these are questioned and inevitably redefined. A re-weaving of female identity, in particular, emerges. At the same time, the traditional notion of reproduction is itself unravelled in order to reveal the ambiguities and multi-layered meanings inherent in the concept. Reproductive or regenerative practices and ideas, as examined here, become an effective force for unfolding the complexities of a female-specific aesthetic and identity, previously reduced by traditional structures. / Fine Arts / M.A. (Fine Arts)

Notre recherche porte sur un corpus d' œuvres réputées violentes produites par des artistes femmes au cours des années 1960 et dans la première moitié des années 1970. Ces pièces marquent une entrée fracassante des artistes femmes dans l'art, alors qu'elles y sont largement marginalisées. La première pa11ie démontre qu'après des années 1950 qui voient s'épanouir des pratiques abstraites quelque peu ouvertes aux femmes, les années 1960 marquent une aggravation de leur condition et un moment de moindre visibilité, dans le contexte de succession rapide des mouvements et d'expansion du marché.La seconde partie pose la question de l'affect et de leur usage de la psychanalyse dans un esprit de dépassement du surréalisme. La troisième pa11ie montre l'importance de la figure d' Artaud et du fou à l'œuvre dans un lecture politique et anarchiste de l'art corporel. Enfin, la demi ère partie énonce un paradoxe : l'art féministe n'est pas violent et rejette la violence; les pratiques les plus agressives sont le fait, toujours, d'artistes isolées ou transféré du côté du para-artistique .. Mettant en valeur la persistance de courants« chauds» en parallèle de mouvements réputés froids, ce travail invite à un infléchissement dans la définition des grands courants des années 1960 et 1970. Artistes: Louise Bourgeois, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Nancy Spero, Eva Hesse, Yayoi Kusama, Alina Szapocznikow, Annette Messager, VALIE EXPORT, Marina Abramovic, Gina Pane, ORLAN, Ana Mendieta, … / Our research deals with a group of works produced by women artists between 1960 and the first half of the 1970s. These pieces constitute the impressive apparition of women in art, though they are still largely marginalized. The first part of our study shows that, whereas the 1950s were a time for abstract practices still relatively open to women, in the 1960s their position as artists become more difficult and they Jack more visibility in the context of the succession of new "avant-garde" movements and the expansion of the market. The second part deals with the issue of "affect" et of the use they make of it, and of psychoanalysis, in a challenging spirit with surrealism. The third part focused on anarchy, anti-psychiatry, the figure do the "fool" and Antonin Artaud in the context of happenings and body art. The last part enounces a paradox: feminist art is non-violent; the most aggressive practices are by isolated women or transfered I para-artistic actions. Showing the persistence of "warm" trends within "cool" "avant-garde" movements, this study advocates for a move in the characterization of the great art movements of the 1960s and the 1970s. Artistes: Louise Bourgeois, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Nancy Spero, Eva Hesse, Yayoi Kusama, Alina Szapocznikow, Annette Messager, VALIE EXPORT, Marina Abramovic, Gina Pane, ORLAN, Ana Mendieta, …