Is Sfax a cultural capital?

Sfax was known for its economic dynamism. Thanks to ALECSO, in 2014, a new role was assigned to it as the capital of Arab culture for the year 2016. This was an opportunity for the city to acquire permanent cultural infrastructures. By Edia LESAGE

And it was believed that arrangements to fulfill this role had been made in time: appointment of an executive committee in December 2014 (chaired by Samir Sellami, industrialist and collector); Approval of a program in 2015; Agreement in principle of the government to increase the budget in January 2016 to about thirty million dinars; Presentation on July 13, 2016 of the program of events scheduled between July 23, 2016 (opening) and March 2017.

But it was only an appearance.

The initial committee, which was subjected to multiple pressures, resigned in April 2016 without being thanked and a new committee composed of the regional bodies of the Ministry of Culture was appointed. It was this committee which presented the program: inauguration with popular concerts and launch of Montgolfières, international festival with Arab stars such as Najoua Karam, Cheb Khaled, Saber Rebaï and others, Algerian cultural week, international concerts and conferences and, , Improvement of the cultural infrastructures of Sfax.

Sfax, a university town, is lacking in cultural infrastructure.

This improvement in infrastructure consisted of: the development of the ramparts of the medina; The restoration and redevelopment of the Hussein school in schools for handicrafts; The development of the “Chott El Kerkni” with a cultural café; The transformation of the old cathedral abandoned for more than fifty years into a multifunctional cultural space (theater, media library). A project of “high quality” according to Mourad Fendri, member of the committee, “which will continue throughout the year”.

A few days from the end of 2016, great is our disillusionment.

The opening of the event was a fortunately poorly publicized fiasco (the balloons never rose in the air …) the Algerian week went well without media coverage. As for infrastructures, we are at the zero point: none of the planned projects has gone beyond the sketch stage. Only the project to convert the old cathedral into a multimedia space, financed under Title II of the State Budget, has arrived at the stage of the invitation to tender.

The development of the esplanade in front of the building took place during the summer of 2016 but the interior works have not yet begun.

What happened ? The Ministry of Equipment, the delegated developer, is ready to assume his role as soon as the Ministry of Culture, the contracting authority, orders him to do so. The Ministry of Culture says nothing.

And time passes, time presses! Failure to start work before December 14, 2016, the planned budget, considered unused for the year 2016, will be returned to the Ministry of Finance. Sfax will have lost a great opportunity to acquire a perennial cultural infrastructure and will be the Arab capital only of some ephemeral cultural events. Pity !