Introduction
When Marcelo Felix, the editor of this issue of Wrong Wrong dedicated to the theme ‘Avenues’, invited me to take part as a resident writer, a sound immediately came to my mind: the deafening chirruping of starlings on the promenade of the Avenue Habib Bourguiba, beneath the ancient, dense rows of Ficus nitida. It was 1995, and my first trip to the country, on the occasion of the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage. Suddenly, that sound, the trees pruned in rectangular shapes and the movement on the avenue transported me to the comings and goings on the avenues of southern Italy’s Mediterranean cities — lo struscio — the habit of Sunday afternoon strolls, weaving encounters.
Having accepted the inspiring invitation, and opting for a laboratory-style proposal in the form of an essay, I return today to that soundscape, a memory of Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis. It encompasses the trees and birds which, from the outset, shaped the experience of the avenue, later affirming themselves as an integral and indispensable part of the heritage of the city of Tunis’ inhabitants.
Advenire, ‘to arrive at’. The word ‘avenue’ refers to a way in, a path of approach. It symbolises access, the journey and progress towards a goal or destination.
Having spent a long time researching the film archives of the Carnation Revolution for an installation — SEMPRE, presented at the Cinemateca Portuguesa in April 2024 — uneasy about our present, it became inevitable that the avenues of Lisbon, with the visions of the future that inhabited them at the time of the revolution and five decades on, would form the second part of my proposal. The two visual essays AVENIDA perspectiva will be published here over the coming months.
Living Memory Avenue, Tunis 1.
Video 4’29’’ and text
Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Known as Boulevard de la Marine in the 19th century, the avenue was renamed Avenue Jules Ferry during the French Protectorate. In April 1938, it was the stage of a massive demonstration demanding autonomy and the creation of a Tunisian Parliament. Finally, in 1956, it took the name Avenue Habib Bourguiba, after the first President of the newly created Republic of Tunisia. The redevelopment project for the avenue, after sparking numerous controversies and opposition from residents over the replacement of trees, was carried out in 2001, with only a partial redesign of the pavement in the shade of the ficus trees. In 2011, when the Tunisian people decided to put an end to the twenty-three-year dictatorial regime of Z. A. Ben Ali (1987–2011), it was in the heart of Habib Bourguiba Avenue, facing the Ministry of the Interior, that they shouted their ‘Dégage!’. The choice stemmed from the symbolic significance of the avenue, which over time became a veritable showcase of the colonial (1881–1956) and post-colonial powers that gave rise to it.
The starlings and the enormous Ficus nitida trees represent an indelible landmark in the living memory of the inhabitants of Tunis.
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Ficus nitida. The trees were imported from Algeria and planted on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the late 19th century, during the French Protectorate. In images from 1882, the four rows of ficus trees appear newly planted, stretching along 1.5 km of the avenue. In the decades that followed, the tree canopies, pruned in rectangles, grew extremely dense. In 1968, the municipality began seeking solutions to keep the trees healthy and restore the balance between the aerial parts and the root systems of the ficus trees. Once the irrigation systems were changed, the soil and roots suffered attacks from pests and fungi. By the late 1990s, the double row of ficus trees had ceased to be continuous, and the central avenue was reduced to a mere passageway to the TGM station, the Tunis metro.
In 1999, the City Council began work on a project to redevelop the city’s main thoroughfare. The approved plan radically transformed the space, placing vehicular traffic at the centre of the thoroughfare, removing the rows of ficus trees and destroying the promenade-like character of the avenue. The Tunisian population and the Association for the Preservation of the Medina, expressing a strong attachment to the value of the ficus trees, the starlings and the avenue’s promenade, organised a campaign against the project that proved decisive. Pressure from civil society led to the project being redesigned from 2000 onwards. Citizens regarded the ficus trees as an integral part of their urban identity, forcing urban planners to include their protection in the 2001 regeneration plan, paving the way for the ficus trees to be valued as a collective memory, detached from the colonial legacy.
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Starlings communicate with one another over long distances and, by synchronising their flight, keep the group cohesive so they can react collectively to attacks from predators. Staying together during migration, whilst in flight, also provides them with warmth. Often, at dusk, they enter cities and gather in tree-lined avenues.
Starlings migrate with seasonal regularity, flying freely from north to south and from the south to north across the Mediterranean.
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[ Law of 24 February 1994, enacted in Tunisia as the Heritage Code, Article 1: The following shall be considered archaeological, historical or traditional heritage: any trace left by previous civilisations or generations, whether discovered or sought out, on land or at sea, be it movable or immovable property, documents or manuscripts, relating to the arts, sciences, beliefs, traditions, daily life or other events, dating from prehistoric or historic periods and whose national or universal value is proven. ]
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(My sincere thanks to André Valentim Almeida, Carlos Santos and Rui Viana)
