Byrsa Chronicles: A different kind of back-to-school season at Mdeina-Althiburos

At Mdeina-Althiburos, the return to the normal season brings a back-to-school celebration unlike the usual administrative rituals. In a week's time, the hills of Sra Ouartane, above the plain west of Dahmani in the Kef governorate, will host the closing of the Rural Creative Children Festival for the seventh consecutive year.

The festival grew from the Little Beaux-Arts program launched by visual artist Ammar Belghith, president of the Althiburos Imagination Association. Near the archaeological site known locally as Mdeina, or “the Little City,” Belghith established an art studio, a gallery and a cultural space called the Well of Love.

A small primary school serves children from the surrounding rural area. During the summer, when school is closed, the children can be left with little to occupy them. The program offers them a place, materials and supervision from volunteer artists, giving them an opportunity to express their artistic instincts and look toward other horizons.

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the opportunity to express their artistic instincts

At the end of each session, families gather for a celebration. The children's works are displayed and rewarded with envelopes intended to help their parents meet the costs of the approaching school year. Over successive editions, Little Beaux-Arts has grown more established and become a major part of cultural and artistic life in this rural corner of the Kef.

Once a year, the festival takes over the slopes of Sra Ouartane for a day, marking both its conclusion and the approach of the new school year.

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the Well of Love