Tumast

[Tumast means Identity in Tamazight, Inks and printmaking on handmade papers, 2019]

Barnosa’s work focused on the use of the Tifinagh alphabet, the indigenous language of North African societies before the Arab conquest in the region, The language is widely spoken and used in Morocco, Libya, Algeria, and the Tuaregs all over the Sahara, However, the Tamazight civilization and culture were denied in the Libyan social fabric until the revolution of 2011, the Tamazight roots in Libya spreads over the coast, the nafusa mountains and the Sahara desert. Barnosa used this poem by the Libyan poet Saied Sifaw who was assassinated by the former regime of Muammer EL-Ghaddafi, he spoke out and wrote about the struggle of identity and belonging, and how the leaders want to oppress it and deny its existence, He was the author who replied to Gaddafi’s green book with a personal letter titled the black book.

Please, click here for sound.

Hanged in the sky

covered in dust

Take the sail everywhere

The winds of Tamizgha will rise again

Winds of revolution, winds of freedom

We’ll rewrite history together

And seek it whenever it is

Dictionaries will be written out loud

For whoever loved and whoever hated

Artists, start the rituals.

There will come a day

We will harvest the land

The rain will fall

And palm trees shall rise again

Higher and higher,

Higher to the spring sun

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