Painting and poetry

I arrived at the exhibition hall of the French cultural centre late due to transportation. The hall was full of visitors. I saw Janine from afar surrounded by staff members of the French Embassy, ​​the Algerian Ministry of Culture, French and Algerian artists and professors. I never imagined having the opportunity to chat with her. I started looking at her with eyes full of admiration. She wore a red dress that barely reached her knees, showing the consistency of her body with her moderate size almost tall. Her thin, white-skinned arms and the upper part of her chest stand out while her golden hair shines under the lights floated on her half-naked back. The sparkling diamond necklace in her beautiful neck was in perfect harmony with the sparkle of her teeth, the radiant of her brighten smile, the sparkle of the bracelet in her left hand and the buttons of the diamond dress, making her a sparkling star around which the crowd of men and women were present. The paintings of four participating artists differed according to their different artistic schools. Janine strolled gracefully between them. She wore red high-heeled shoes in harmony with her dress. She explained her paintings to the public and listened to their opinions and comments. She finished her paintings and moved with the public to the paintings of other artists.

I did not find in me the desire to understand the paintings as I find it now. But I am ignorant in this area, because I was neither interested in painting nor appreciated it. How can I read the paintings and I don't know their codes? I stood in front of Janine's paintings according to the figures in the guide and I found a man explaining the first painting to his wife. The painting bore the name "Natural view of the Jura". He explained to her that "the Jura" is the region in which the town of Besançon where the artist lives is located. The scene was drawn in autumn; the trees are almost bare and the sky covered with clouds. He added that the painting is not 100% classic, but has romantic features, because it reflects in dark colours the melancholy of the artist when she painted it.

I started to be jealous. If I were a painter, there would be a common language between Janine and me like those around her. Painting is a universal language. As for poetry, I write in Arabic, which Janine does not understand. We are all in Boussaâda and generally, in the south poets, we draw from the stock of poetry in us and from those who surround us. We learned the language of prosody and metrics. If we studied the language of shapes and colours, we could reflect the beauty of our nature in the most beautiful paintings.

 The second painting was expressive and represented a dancer at the height of her passion. The facial and body expressions reflected the affection that she had reached its peak. The third is cubism, which is incredibly adherent cubes, which represent the image of the painter. It seems when you see from afar a 3D dimension painting. It is distinguished by its simplicity, agility and beauty. The artist continues to explain to his wife what I listen to and learn. The fourth and fifth paintings are abstract. The first represents two eyes, afflicted and saddened in the centre of the whiteboard, called "suffering". The second one does not have the shape, but the colours: blue, white, red, green and purple speak of a harmony that is comfortable for the eyes who look. The last is the only political painting or let's say humanitarian. Its right half painted in oil, represents a white child full of vitality and health, nibbled on a red apple and behind him a large white palace. Nature is rich in greenery and flowers of different colours. The second half drawn of charcoal depicts a lean black child with protruding bones and thorax. Behind him, we see a small African hut and barren land. The title of the painting "Two children and two continents".

Abdellah Khammar

The first trimester: Innocent or guilty 1

An extract taken from the novel: Entry bell to class