Souhila Belbahar

Souhila Belbahar
سهيلة بلبحار
Born	(1934-02-17)17 February 1934 Blida, French Algeria
Died	23 March 2023(2023-03-23) (aged 89)

Souhila Belbahar (alternatively Souhila Bel Bahar;[1] 17 February 1934 – 23 March 2023) was an Algerian painter. In 2018, she was awarded Algeria's National Order of Merit.

Biography

Belbahar was born in Blida, Algeria, in 1934.[2][1][3] A self-taught artist,[2] she held her first exhibition in 1971, at the age of 37.[3] Since that time, she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Algiers.[2] The Algerian Cultural Centre in Paris hosted a solo exhibition of Belbahar's works in 1986.[4]

Belbahar exhibited at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers in 1984.[2] The museum held a retrospective exhibition of her works in 2008.[3] In 2016, the museum published Il pleut des jasmins sur Alger, a biography of Belbahar written by her daughter, Dalila Hafiz.[1]

In 2018, Belbahar was awarded the National Order of Merit by the Algerian Minister of Culture, Azzedine Mihoubi.[5]

Belbahar died on 23 March 2023, at the age of 89.[6]

References

1. Amokrane, Imène (14 December 2016). "Plongée dans l'univers de l'artiste Souhila Bel Bahar: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com". Liberté (in French). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
2. "Belbahar, Souhila". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 13 October 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00015442. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
3. Baba-Hadji, Farouk (29 May 2008). "La peinture est mon refuge". Le Midi (in French). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
4. Grand Maghreb (in French). Centre d'information sur le Grand Maghreb. 1986. p. 15.
5. "Des médailles de l'ordre du mérite décernées à des hommes de lettre, intellectuels et artistes algériens et étrangers". Algérie Presse Service (in French). Retrieved 19 March 2020.
6. L'artiste peintre Souhila Belbahar n'est plus (in French)