Tiohtià:ke/Montréal
London
Alger
Paris
Berirouche Feddal
studio@berirouche.ca

Born in Rouiba in 1996 and raised between Algiers and Irdjen, his parents’ Kabyle village, Berirouche Feddal was ten when he landed in Pointe-aux-Trembles, at the eastern tip of Tiohtià:ke. He now works between Montréal, London and Algiers, and is pursuing an MFA at Goldsmiths. His practice is a souk where nothing settles: abstract and figurative, object and performance, war and colour, Pan-Africanism and its violence. Stadium chants become protest songs; gold and wheat ask to be worshipped. He works with what time leaves behind: rusted objects, henna rusting in the elders' hair, relics of childhood that hide inherited horrors. Kardoune, devotional symbols and burned wood carry the voices of parents and villagers, the afterlives of colonial history, the ghosts that refuse to leave. His colour began underfoot, on his grandmother's carpets. His work talks to the dead, leaves space empty, and allows itself to forget.

CV


PRESS
Dans les plis du souvenir, les couleurs se taisentVie des arts, no. 279, Winter 2025VisitesText: Dounia Bouzidi
Fleurs fanées: Anna Binta Diallo et Berirouche FeddalVie des arts, no. 275, Summer 2024Créations
L'art de recycler des bouts de muséeLe Devoir, April 24, 2024Text: Stéphane Baillargeon
La révolution des couleursLe Devoir, March 30, 2024Text: Amélie RevertPhoto: Adil Boukind
Dans l'atelier de Berirouche FeddalEsse arts + opinions, no. 110, AgricultureText: Nicholas DawsonPhotos: Alexandra Dumais
VIDEOS
▶ Play
la clarté creuse les montagnes, 2026Musée d'art de JolietteCurated by Ariane De BloisWith asinnajaq, Nathalie Batraville, Stina Baudin, Amanda Boulos, Shannon Garden-Smith, Frantz Patrick Henry and Tyson Houseman
▶ Play
Afrotopos, 2025Stewart Hall GalleryCurated by Diane GistalWith Damien Ajavon, Delali Cofie, Anna Binta Diallo, Marie-Danielle Duval, ibiyanε and Roxane Mbanga
▶ Play
Textile Beyond Craft, 2023Round table: Reflections on the Montreal SceneCentre de design UQAMModerated by Christina ContandriopoulosWith Édith-Anne Pageot and Michaëlle Sergile
▶ Play
Spoliation du souk, 2022Conseil des arts de MontréalCurated by Michelle Caron and Colas Eko
PODCAST
Conjuguer les identités qui nous habitentIn/Tension, The Power Plant, 2023Hosted by Diane GistalWith Anna Binta Diallo42 min
▶ Listen
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragiles 2020
In an attempt to look at one’s trajectory, Berirouche Feddal turns the gaze towards oneself by exposing the complexities that surround family relations, personal identity and homeland. Taking the binding of Isaac as a starting point, the work asks us to reflect on the notion of “sacrifice”. Placing this term in more contemporary times, it can be interpreted within the realm of cancel culture, whereby one is rejected for one’s opinions when the group is displeased. He places himself as the figure of Édouard Manet’s Olympia and Titian’s Venus of Urbino, in a room full of beds that he shares with his extended family, positioning himself as both the sacrificed son and the one who is still sacrificing.

Born to Algerian parents who arrived in Canada via Air Algérie, Berirouche draws powerful parallels between his own migration and that of his social circle, the experience of the Harraga. This latter form of migration is represented by guest artist Abdullah Rahmani, who was forced to resort to illegal immigration on makeshift boats. Between Berirouche and Abdullah, the goal remains the same: to reach a shore with the hope of finding refuge.

In this exhibition, Algeria enters a state of flux, embodying a place both familiar and alienating. A place where one attends a wedding, but also a place where gas jars are stored. Comfort and tension become a home’s main components.

Another aspect of an estranged home is colonization. Berirouche Feddal critically engages with the attempts at seduction emerging from colonized people. In reappropriating French fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, the work becomes a portrait of the cultural infrastructure set by years of colonization. Using traditional fabrics found at the souk, Feddal sheds the desire to seduce the other and reminds us of the importance of valuing the richness of what a country holds. Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragiles is a proposal for a reconciliation emerging from a dialogue that is bound to persist.

Text by Joyce JoumaaBELGO #410, Montreal
2020

Text by Joyce Joumaa

Guest artist: Abdullah Rahmani

Screening: Abdullah in Lesbos, 2019
A video report by Alexis Boulianne and Ariane Labrèche, filmed on the Greek island of Lesbos, where the Moria refugee camp burned down in September 2020.

Photo : Jean-Michael Seminaro  
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Mon cœur s’attache à ces âmes fragilesInstallation view, 2020[Venue], [City]
Pourquoi crie-t-il à sa perte ?2020Oil on canvas, silkscreen, printed fibre315 × 366 cm
Les fidèles ne se sacrifient plus2020Oil on canvas, printed fibre, silkscreen152 × 183 cm
Ma mère aimait la gomme à mâcher2020Oil on cabas Barbès48 × 52 cm
Une véritable bombe à retardement2020Printed fibre99 × 127 cm
Héphaïstos cherche son feu2020, with Tristan RéhelIkea rug, faux leather, metal rings50 × 29 × 22 cm
Le tapis est en sang2020Oil on leather23 × 18 × 38 cm
Bleu avec le temps2020Silkscreen on canvas, pastel131 × 85 cm
Parmi ses apôtres il avait nous2020Satellite dish, acrylic89 × 52 × 79 cm
Refugee mother who lost his childAbdullah Rahmani, 201740 × 30.5 cmCollection of Alexis Boulianne and Ariane Labrèche
Vais-je brûler mon passeport2020Oil on canvas, Air Algérie blanket183 × 152 cm
Après le mariage le paradis2020Oil on wood, laser cut203 × 140 cm


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