La pratique de Katia Kameli, artiste et réalisatrice franco-algérienne, repose sur une démarche de recherche : le fait historique et culturel alimente les formes plurielles de son imaginaire plastique et poétique. Elle se considère comme une « traductrice ». La traduction n’est pas un simple passage entre deux cultures ni un simple acte de transmission, mais fonctionne aussi comme une extension de sens et de formes. L’acte de traduction déconstruit la relation binaire et parfois hiérarchique entre la notion d’original et de copie. Une réécriture des récits apparait au sein de son travail. Elle met en lumière une histoire, globale, faite de frontières poreuses et d’influences réciproques afin d’ouvrir une voie réflexive et génératrice d’un regard critique sur le monde.
Throughout my work, my primary interest has been in exploring questions of territory and its relationship to social and cultural developments rooted in traditions. I track down the “in-between” zones where perceptions of a traditional past meets modernity, especially around what can be loosely defined as Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. My work is closely linked to my personal experiences and different identities as both French and Algerian.
I use sound, video and photographic installation, attempting to break down boundaries between art and cinema and to perform both in order to give to the viewer several level of understanding. Since my childhood I always have to switch between two different cultural identities, so the idea of integration, which indicate that a stranger have to subscribe to the local cultural principles or situations and has to combine with his personal cultural history, is important to me.
Integration can be also understood as the capacity of human being to react to their architectural landscapes. I consider myself as a translator that always transform the source language by importing interesting loanwords to enrich the story but always referring to the original.
