11 Nov 2014
Tunisian village turned into open air art gallery
BY Tom Anstey
The Tunisian village of Erriadh is receiving an influx of tourists after turning the entire community into an open-air graffiti museum.
The village, situated on the island of Djerba, welcomed 150 artists from 30 countries over the summer to put a little colour into the Tunisian white stone buildings in a first-of-its kind project for the country.
Previously Djerba was most well known for being the largest island in North Africa and for having the world’s oldest synagogue. Now the buildings in Erriadh have been used as canvases for graffiti art. For example, Belgian artist ROA's octopus has incorporated a building's dome into the unique design.
Aside from ROA, other internationally renowned graffiti artists have been involved in the project, including Mexico’s Curiot, Liliwenn from France and Saudi artist Deyaa, among others.
According to local officials, tourist numbers have increased as a result of the unique art gallery.
The village has also become somewhat of an online phenomenon, garnering more than two million hits in the last month alone across various web and news sources.
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