Algeria: Algerian visual artist Noureddine Tabrha is presenting 32 works at the Maurice Lapone Gallery in the province of Biskra, southern Algeria, under the title "Mama Africa."

According to Oman News Agency, the choice of the title, the artist explains, is meant to underscore Algeria's civilisational and geographical belonging to the African continent, its distinctive ties with many African nations, and its deep connection to them - especially in cultural terms, embodied in both tangible and intangible heritage. For African art, he says, is the pulse of the earth and the memory of humanity, where matter turns into spirit and symbol into story.

Across the works on display, visitors encounter not just artworks but worlds charged with identity. Tabrha draws inspiration from Africa's depths, yet renders it in a contemporary visual language. In a distinctive approach, he employs discarded materials, recycling and reappropriating them into works that offer artistic illuminations rooted in heritage but presented in a fresh, contemporary form.

The artist blends art with mythology and frequently turns to symbols in his varied techniques. 'The artistic vision forms the foundation of every mature creative work,' Tabrha told the exhibition audience.

Kamal Khazan, an artist and art critic, observed that the bowls in Tabrha's works are not merely repurposed objects but have become African masks - faces bearing tribal features, the breath of the jungle, and echoes of ancient drums. The visible face reveals the features, while the hollowed underside carries a bygone spirit, as if the mask possesses a face for the seen and another for the unseen. The paintings emerging from the bowls' cavities read as revelations of inner secrets - hidden memories reclaiming their presence through colour, texture and composition.

Artist Arabi Mohammed Saud described Tabrha as a creator who masters material, craft, line and colour, shaping them into a single symphony where the authentic and the contemporary harmonise. 'From this wooden board etched in our memory, Tabrha's journey began,' he said. 'Upon this support, lines take shape inspired by a reality and a past that settle into depth, where solid bodies transform into interwoven lines that sometimes form figures without details. The closer you draw to them, the further they recede and elude you. But the more space you give them for contemplation, the closer they draw to you, and you realise you are part of them - as they grant you a visual pleasure rich with beauty and artistic depth.'