Documentaries

The documentary series serves as a testament to the fruitful collaboration between Australian and Tunisian scholars, showcasing their dedication and passion for fostering cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. 

The series beautifully captures the architectural marvels, cultural heritage, and unique stories of the three multicultural places.

This project jusour (or bridges in Arabic) is a collaboration between Tunisian and Australian scholars focusing on art and architecture. It aims to reveal the multiculturalism of Tunisia and to dispel common misconceptions about the place of Islam across borders and its influence on placemaking and the architecture of historical and contemporary cities. In this project, particularly in the Tunisian context, we aim to understand the complexities of cultural heritage in the medina of Tunis, the medina of Kairouan, and the island of Djerba   

In fact, there are a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes that come to mind about Tunisia like the idea that the Tunisian cities have only an Arabic origin and influences. 

However, Tunisia is a multicultural country which was been crossed through areas and times by a lot of civilizations such romans, Amazigh (natives of the region), Ottoman, Arabic, Andalusian, and many others. For instance, ‘The Amazigh have historically inhabited the area known as Tamazgha, which comprises most of North Africa, specifically the region from Morocco and the Canari Islands in the west, to the modern state of Egypt in the east, and from Tunisia and Algeria in the North, to Mali and Niger in the south.’ Heritage reveals these multicultural influences and multilayered ethnic backgrounds and transcends national borders and states.

When we talk about heritage we talk about both tangible and intangible heritage like art, the know-how, the architecture, etc. 

This reveals the richness of Tunisia and its history and brings connections with other nations. In this project, we also envision to understand the place of Islam in multicultural nations and how it shaped the architecture of people and communities.

We are very much looking forward to this collaboration and we hope that more cultural and educational bridges would exist between Tunisia and Australia in the near future.