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Aymen Mbarki is a self-taught visual artist whose practice is defined by a deep sensitivity to the poetics and politics of language and mythology. At the age of five, he encountered a reproduction of Saturn Devouring His Son by Goya—an experience that profoundly shaped his artistic perspective. His graphically minimal compositions and painterly lines, oscillating between figurative abstraction, theatricality, and asemic writing, capture the essence of spontaneous, intimate human gestures. His work constructs a dialogue between material and movement, pattern and experimentation, drawing inspiration from poetry, literature, Greek mythology, and classical tragedy.
His first group exhibition was held in 2019 at the National Library of Tunis. Since then, he has participated in numerous solo and group shows, including: Sun Rays and Tiny Cubes, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis (TN, 2024); Za'ir – Ruggito, VOGA Art Project, Bari (IT, 2024); Hirafen: Talan l’Expo, curated by Ludovic Delalande and Nadia Jelassi, Tunis (TN, 2023); Letters to Ovid, Yosr Ben Ammar Gallery, Marsa (TN, 2021); Galerie A. Gorgi, Tunis (TN, 2021); and Yosr Ben Ammar Gallery, Tunis (TN, 2020). He has also taken part in international residencies and art fairs, including: L’atelier Selma Feriani – Drawing as an Installation, Tunis (TN, 2023); Liste Art Fair, Basel (CH, 2024); and Cape Town Art Fair (ZA, 2022, 2023).
Sammichele di Bari stretches across a flat area of the inland Bari province, among vineyards, olive groves, cherry trees, and almond trees. Its territory falls within the Lama Diumo, part of the hydrographic network of Lama San Giorgio.
Its origins date back to the Bronze Age, but the current village was founded in 1609 by the Portuguese noble Michele Vaaz. The first residential nucleus, consisting of 87 houses, arose around the Centuriona tower, now Castello Caracciolo, home to the Museo della Civiltà Contadina Dino Bianco.
Renamed Casale San Michele in 1619, the town was ruled by the Caracciolo family until 1806. The historic center preserves the typical dwellings known as vignali: small stone studios with barrel vaults, whitewashed with lime and once adorned with climbing vines at the entrance. Another symbol of tradition are the apotropaic masks carved in local stone, bearing witness to ancient popular beliefs.
A major resource for the community is food and wine tourism, especially thanks to the famous zampina, a mixed meat sausage celebrated every year since 1967 with a festival at the end of September. This is accompanied by the focaccia a libro (literally ‘book focaccia’, a folded focaccia typical of the area), now recognized as a Slow Food Presidium.
Sammichele is also known for its Carnival traditions, with a cultural phenomenon rooted in popular heritage: the so-called festini, dance evenings with groups of masked participants, regulated by an ancient code. This unique local feature has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture as a historical and identity-related phenomenon.
Since 2023, Sammichele has been part of the “I Borghi più belli d’Italia” (The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy network) and has been awarded the “Bandiera Verde” (Green Flag for Agriculture).
Co-directed by Nicola Guastamacchia and Flavia Tritto, VOGA Art Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research, production and valorization of contemporary art in Apulia. Since 2021 it organizes exhibitions, residencies, talks and workshops, combining an international program with the opportunity for local artists and organizations to disseminate their work. The name of the organization – an exhortation to navigate together – defines the critical horizon of the project and the objective to establish itself as a center for contemporary art in Bari, in the heart of the Mediterranean. For Una Boccata d’Arte, he curated the projects by Simone Bacco in Spinazzola (2022), Evita Vasiljeva in Maruggio (2023), and Emanuele Marullo in Poggiorsini (2024).