Born in 1931 in Gafsa, Tunisia, Brahim Dhahak lost his parents when he was only nine years old, and while living a tough childhood, he manifested a particular talent for drawing at primary school. Collecting odd jobs, he ended up working as a head waiter in the capital city, where he led a bohemian life, painting and attending classes at École des Beaux-Arts in Tunis. With the help of the Italian consul, he received a scholarship to study at Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome from 1957 to 1962, training in painting, mosaic, ceramic notably under the supervision of Amerigo Bartoli. Dhahak would only go back to Europe, in 1972 when he resided at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for a time. In Tunisia, he established his atelier in a little alleyway in the village of Sidi Bou SaÏd. The artist employed simplified shapes and pure colors in his artworks, drawing his inspiration from the geometrical motifs and radiant colors of the artisanal weaving of the women in his native village. He used to depict genre scenes, landscapes illuminated by the light of the Tunisian sun, women of the village and its famous coffeeshop called ‘Café des Nattes.’ Brahim Dhahak passed away in 2004.

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