ARTifariti

The work of Algerian artists at the 2008 ARTifiariti event, when international artists visited Tifariti in the Free Zone of Western Sahara.Tifariti is the main settlement in the "Free Zone" of Western Sahara, which is administered by the Polisario independence movement. The rest of Western Sahara is occupied by Morocco. This particular piece of art has been created in a bombed-out building which was destroyed during the hostilities between Morocco and the Polisario, which lasted from 1975-1991. Tifariti was occupied by the Moroccan armed forces for a while, and they did quite a bit of damage when they left, after planting plenty of landmines. Most of these have been destroyed by Land Mine Action in the past 2-3 years.

Algeria is the main backer of the Polisario, which forms the government of the self-proclaimed "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic", recognised by the majority of African nations and some others. Although it controls somewhere between a half and a third of Western Sahara (the "Free Zone"), these areas are poor in resources, and some 165,000 Sahrawi live in exile in camps near the Algerian town of Tindouf. The Polisario government is also based in the camps. In wet years some refugees spend time with their herds of camels and goats in the Free Zone (maintained there by family members/shepherds), but conditions at present do not permit large-scale, permanent settlement.