Rose is Not Rose
<p dir="ltr">I was in Tunis, waking from a nap, when Yto Barrada called. You’re near Carthage, she said. You should go and meet the man who makes purple from sea snails. Barrada doesn’t spell things out; she doesn’t need to. Her phrasing, like her art, is allusive and economical, glinting with expressive power. She sent me his name, and within minutes I was exchanging messages with Mohammed Ghassen Nouira, a Tunisian consultant who has spent years reviving the technique of making purplish red dye, one of the most mysterious and precious colours of the ancient world, from the mucous glands of shellfish he finds on the shore. Within hours I was sitting in his garden, handling swatches of velvet and silk he had tinted the same colour as the sails on Cleopatra’s boat…</p>
Authors: Yasmine Seale
Artists: Yto Barrada
Part of: TextWork
ISSN: 27269949