Nadia Khiari ( ar, نادية خياري; born 21 May 1973) is a

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

ian cartoonist, painter, graffiti artist and art teacher. She is best known for her chronicles and cartoon collections about the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

s, particularly for her character 'Willis from Tunis', dubbed the "Cat of the Revolution" in some sources.

Academic background

Academically, Khiari is a graduate of the Faculty of Plastic Arts in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

, France, and teaches art at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tunis. In 2013 she received a degree as'' Docteur Honoris Causa'' from the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

in Belgium.

Artistic career

Apart from social media, Khiari's work has been published in magazines such as '' Siné Mensuel'', ''

Courrier International ''Courrier International'' ( French for "International Mail") is a Paris-based French weekly newspaper which translates and publishes excerpts of articles from over 900 international newspapers. It also has a Portuguese and a Japanese edition. '' ...

'' and '' Zelium''. In criticism of former Tunisian president Ben Ali, she created a cartoon character of a cat named Willis. In January 2011, she started the page ''Willis from Tunis'' on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

to air her feelings about the

, which attracted over 56,000 followers in August 2021. She confessed that she draws "to take the heat off certain situations". Due to the former regime's strict policies of censorship and to avoid being thrown into prison, she was careful to "learn to trick, to suggest rather than to speak". She has said of her artwork and the revolution: "For me it's not a job. It's a freedom. Like I'm being born. Before the revolution, I was a zombie. I think, but I cannot express myself. So I didn't feel like I was alive. With the revolution I was born, like a baby. My first screaming was my drawing. And now for me it's a revolution in my art, totally. I can finally express myself and say what I think and criticize the government. For me I can finally do my passion: cartoons." Aside from her cartoons, Khiari is also known for her work as a graffiti artist. As member of the association 'Cartooning for Peace', she has also participated in French schools with the programme "Dessine-moi la Méditerranée". In 2020, she published her book ''Willis from Tunis, 10 ans et toujours vivant!'' with a foreword by French cartoonist

Plantu Jean Plantureux (born March 23, 1951 in Paris), who goes by the professional name Plantu, is a French cartoonist specializing in political satire. His work has regularly appeared in the French newspaper ''Le Monde'' since 1972. Early life Jean P ...

Recognition

Khiari has received multiple acclaim for her artwork. She has been awarded the Honoré Daumier Award during the Second International meeting of Cartooning for Peace in Caen (2012), the Political Satire International Award in Forte dei Marmi (2014), and the 2015 Agora Med Award for Intercultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean. In 2016, she was named one of the BBC's 100 Women, and in September 2016, she showcased her work at the Le Monde Festival.

References

External links

Official webpage of Willis from Tunis
on Facebook
Documentary film ''4 Arab Comic Book Artists''
by ARTE TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Khiari, Nadia 1973 births Living people Tunisian cartoonists Arab Spring and the media Graffiti artists People from Tunis Tunisian women cartoonists Tunisian women painters 20th-century Tunisian painters 21st-century Tunisian painters 21st-century women artists BBC 100 Women Women muralists Women graffiti artists