"On the Algerian side, he is the figure of the founder of the first Algerian state, a fighter, a resistance fighter. With us, he was still presented at the beginning of the 20th century as the best enemy of France, in school textbooks. Today, we can say that he is quite unknown”, notes Camille Faucourt, one of the curators of the exhibition scheduled from April 6 to August 22.

"We tried to show all the richness and complexity of the character by returning to most facets of his life: the period of the resistance which revealed him to himself as a military strategist, his role as a precursor in the rights of prisoners, but also his captivity in France, his relationship to spirituality, to modernity, his ability to dialogue", explains Florence Hudowicz, the other curator of the exhibition.

Faithful to the vocation of the museum to make Mediterranean cultures better known, the two women do not hide their ambition to bring together the memories of France and Algeria, where they also hope to be able to present this exhibition.

"The desire has been expressed and if the realization of such a project remains complex, the Mucem remains open to any proposal", they say.

The exhibition project was born from a meeting in 2019 between the president of the Mucem, Jean-François Chougnet, and Father Christian Delorme, the former priest of Minguettes, near Lyon, very involved in inter-religious dialogue. .

Anchored in the Muslim faith and its traditions, Abdelkader derived his authority from Sharia, Islamic law, but he always dialogued with representatives of other religions.

In 1860, taking refuge in Damascus, he saved Christians during riots which targeted them, which earned him international recognition and decorations, including the Legion of Honor.

Open to modernity, he supported the Suez Canal project which, for him, opened the way to a dialogue between East and West.

Algerian pride

"Abdelkader is for me a great liberating figure. Like Mandela a century later, he was a fighter for justice who never gave up on a future reconciliation", explains Christian Delorme, for whom the image of the emir represents "Algerian pride and generosity", "a landmark", "a possible mediating figure of unification".

Since 2007, the man has gathered a collection of objects linked to Abdelkader – period newspapers, engravings, books, photos, letters – which he gave to the Mucem.

Visitors in front of a painting at the exhibition on the Emir Abdelkader at the Mucem in Marseille on April 5, 2022. Nicolas TUCAT AFP

In total, the exhibition presents nearly 250 works and documents divided into five sections illustrating the life of Abdelkader.

From public and private French and Mediterranean collections, many are unpublished.

In particular, we can see the "Tafna Treaty" of 1837 signed by General Bugeaud, commander of the French troops, and Abdelkader, which granted the latter the government over a large part of Algeria.

For two years, the emir founded the beginnings of a state there, with a currency and an administration, before the war resumed.

Also presented, his solemn declaration of October 30, 1852 to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte by which, in exchange for his release after five years of captivity, he undertook not to exercise any more political or military power and not to return to Algeria.

The presentation of the "Book of halts", a collection of thoughts and experiences to which the Emir devoted part of his life, is also part of the novelties.

Many images of the emir are on display, including the first photo taken by photographer Gustave le Gray in Amboise in 1851, as well as personal items, including a white caftan.

Among the contributors, the Louvre and Orsay museums provided paintings, and if Horace Vernet's famous painting, the taking of the smala by Abdelkader, from the Versailles museum, was too large for the exhibition, the the public will be able to discover it thanks to a multimedia device offering a critical look at the work.

© 2022 AFP