KHALILI, Bouchra
The Tempest Society

Following Bouchra Khalili's The Tempest Society (2017), a video installation commissioned to the artist for documenta 14, which took Athens as a site to reflect on radical equality, democracy and theatre as a civic space, the book brings to light the specific history, the archive, and the ongoing resonance of the agit-prop theatre group Al-Assifa, born out of the struggles of the early 70's French Algerian diaspora within the The Arab Workers' Movement (Mouvement des travailleurs arabes, MTA) in the context of urgent economic, political and humanitarian upheaval.

Contributors explore the legacy of the group, placing this history in the context of the European economic crisis and its effect on Greece, contemporary migration and the conditions of immigrant workers and refugees. Conversations with the artist, and participants and collaborators in her film, consider the potential for politicised art to move between the street and the factory in cultural production today.

With contributions from Abdellali Hajjat, Hendrik Folkerts, Pothiti Hantzaroula, and interviews with Philippe Tancelin, surviving member of Al Assifa, Bouchra Khalili, Omar Berrada, and Alexandre Kauffmann, and Isavella Alopoudi, Elias Kiama Tzogonas, and Giannis Sotiriou, the performers in The Tempest Society.

Published by Book Works, 2019
Design by A Practice for Everyday Life
Monographs / Performance / Politics