Biographie
Hatem EL MEKKI (1918-2003) is one of the most influential Tunisian painters of the 20th century. Born in Jakarta to a Tunisian father and an Indonesian mother of Chinese origin, he discovered Tunisia in 1924 before completing his artistic training in Lyon and Paris. A committed artist who supported Tunisian independence under the pseudonym Mahmoud, he developed an art drawing on his multicultural origins, from Indonesian batik to European figurative art.
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His exceptional precocity in drawing earned him scholarships that led him to train in France, where he immersed himself in the artistic trends of his time. Alongside his career as a painter, he became politically involved, signing caricatures under the pseudonym Mahmoud, thus participating in the fight for the independence of his adopted country.
His work demonstrates remarkable diversity, skillfully adapting his multicultural influences to appeal to a European clientele while serving the cultural ambitions of the newly independent Tunisian state. Beyond traditional painting, El Mekki excels in multiple forms of artistic expression, including posters and mosaics.
Perhaps his most emblematic contribution lies in his work as a graphic designer for the national visual identity: from 1957 to 1995, he designed 454 models for Tunisian postage stamps and banknotes, leaving a lasting mark on the country's collective imagination. This exceptional output makes him a key artist in the construction of the visual identity of modern Tunisia, who died in Carthage in 2003 after a career spanning nearly eight decades.
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