Born in 1924 in Radès, a coastal town near Tunis, Tunisia. She grew up under the French Protectorate, at a time when Tunisia was undergoing social, cultural, and political changes. Her family was relatively privileged, which allowed her access to education—she benefited from both French and Tunisian schooling. ([REM / Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism]
Safia showed early interest in art. She studied at the Tunis Institute of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts de Tunis). According to documented records, she was among the first female students at the École des Beaux-Arts, graduating in the early 1950s. She was the third Tunisian woman to complete training there under colonial constraints. Her education exposed her to both European art training (drawing, painting, fine arts techniques) and the crafts/traditional arts of Tunisia.
Artistic Journey & Contributions (1950s-1970s)
Joining the École de Tunis
In 1949, Safia Farhat joined the École de Tunis (Tunis School), a movement that brought together Tunisian, French, and Italian artists who sought to develop a modern Tunisian artistic identity. The group aimed to move away from colonial and Orientalist styles, integrating local heritage, craft, traditional motifs, and scenes of Tunisian everyday life into modern art. Safia was notable as the only woman among the original pivotal members at that early stage.
Mediums, Style, and Key Works
Safia Farhat was remarkable in her eclecticism—she worked across many disciplines: painting, ceramics, tapestry, stained glass, decorative arts, upholstery, design, graphic work, and murals. She is especially credited with establishing modern tapestry in Tunisia as an art form. ([Wikipedia]
Some of her key works include:
- The Bride (1963), a tapestry, in the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation. This piece shows her tapestry technique, combining colour, texture and figurative motifs.
- Gafsa & ailleurs (1983), a large diptych tapestry, which was exhibited internationally (notably at the Venice Biennale in 2022) and demonstrates her mature style: bold geometric patterning, vibrant and natural motifs, mixture of traditional weaving, dyed hand-woven wool, and modern abstraction.
- Stamp designs: e.g. in 1980, Tunisian postage stamps designed by Farhat featuring Chebka lace and metalwork motifs.
Her style is characterised by:
- Decorative, applied arts traditions blended with modern aesthetic concerns.
- Frequent use of tapestry and weaving, often collaborating with local artisans and craft workshops.
- Motifs drawn from Tunisian heritage: traditional dress, plants, animals, cultural crafts, architectural ornamentation (such as Chebka lace).
- A balance between figurative and abstract elements, often strong outlines, bright colours, stylised forms, simplified figures.
Leadership, Education & Institutional Role (1960s-1990s)
Safia Farhat did not confine herself to producing art; she played crucial roles in education, institutional leadership, and in promoting arts infrastructure in Tunisia.
- In 1959, she founded Faïza, one of the first Tunisian women’s magazines after independence, addressing women’s issues and featuring graphic design, illustration, cultural content. It published 62 issues.
- Around 1958-1966, she began her teaching career at the School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts), eventually directing the atelier of decoration. In 1966, she was appointed director of the School of Fine Arts in Tunis (later part of the Institut Technologique d’Art d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Tunis, ITAAUT). She served in that leadership role until 1973.
- She co-founded, with artist Abdelaziz Gorgi, the decorative company Société Zin, which executed public commissions and decorative designs, helping integrate crafts and modern art in architecture and civic spaces.
- In 1981, Safia Farhat and her husband established the Centre des Arts Vivants (Living Arts Center) in Radès. Later, a museum in her name was inaugurated in Radès in 2016 to preserve and exhibit her works and those of others.
Later Years & Enduring Legacy
By the later decades of the 20th century, Safia Farhat had firmly established herself as a key figure in Tunisian modern art. She continued to produce large-scale works, especially tapestry and decorative arts, as well as murals, stained glass, and reliefs, which adorned public buildings like banks, hotels, schools, government offices. Some of her works survive in governmental buildings and institutions.
Safia Farhat passed away on 7 February 2004 in Radès, Tunisia. After her death, her influence has grown: she is remembered as a pioneer for women in arts, for decorative arts in modernism, for education reform, and for bridging craft heritage with modern art. The museum in Radès helps preserve her work and her memory.
Cultural & Historical Context
To fully appreciate Safia Farhat’s life and work, one must understand three contexts:
- Colonial to Postcolonial Transition
Tunisia was under French Protectorate until independence in 1956. During colonial rule, European artistic institutions and styles dominated; Tunisian artists often trained under European curricula. After independence, there was strong national desire to reclaim cultural identity, heritage, and to develop modern art that reflected Tunisia’s people, traditions, crafts, landscape. Safia’s work and teaching were deeply shaped by this transition. - The École de Tunis Movement
Founded around 1948-49, this group of artists (Tunisian, French, Italian) aimed to fuse modernist ideas with Tunisian identity: motifs from folk culture, architecture, crafts, everyday life. The group is often considered a cornerstone of Tunisian modern art. Safia Farhat, as the only woman among the early core members, played a singular role. - Applied, Decorative Arts & Craft Revival
Farhat’s strong interest in tapestry, weaving, stained glass, ceramics, decorative design connected with broader efforts in Tunisia to valorise artisan crafts, rural weaving, traditional decorative motifs. This was part of cultural policy and social uplift in post-independence Tunisia, especially in the 1960s-70s, including promoting women’s work, employment in crafts, cultural heritage preservation. Farhat’s work with weaving collectives, her decorative public art commissions, her design companies all reflect that.
Why Safia Farhat Matters
- Pioneer as Woman Artist: In a period and region where visual arts institutions were male-dominated, Farhat broke ground as student, teacher, administrator, director.
- Fusion of Craft & Modernism: She helped expand the definition of modern art in Tunisia beyond painting and sculpture to include tapestry, decorative arts, design, thereby enriching the visual vocabulary and material practices.
- Institution Builder: Through her leadership at the Fine Arts School, founding of Centre des Arts Vivants, decorative company Zin, magazine Faïza, she created platforms for others—artists, especially women, artisan communities—to learn, exhibit, practice.
- Cultural Heritage: Her works preserve and reinterpret Tunisian motifs: traditional dress, textile techniques, architectural ornamentation, craft materials. This helps in keeping alive regional visual traditions within modern artistic language.
Conclusion
Safia Foudhaïli Farhat (1924-2004) stands out as one of Tunisia’s foremost masters of modern visual arts. Her career spans painting, design, tapestry, decorative art, ceramics, stained glass, and more. She was an educator and leader who reshaped art education and institutions in Tunisia, and a creator who blended local heritage, traditional craft, and modern style. Her works remain visible in museums, public buildings, and through the museum named after her—and her legacy lives on in the many artists and artisans she inspired.
Reliable Sources
- REM: Farhat, Safia (1924-2004) by Jessica Clare Gerschultz in Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism rem.routledge.com
- AWARE – Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions profile of Safia Farhat AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes
- Barjeel Art Foundation collection: The Bride tapestry by Safia Farhat Barjeel Art Foundation
- La Biennale di Venezia: Safia Farhat’s Gafsa & ailleurs (1983) La Biennale di Venezia
- Review “Review of Decorative Arts of the Tunisian École” by Jessica Gerschultz Jadaliyya
