From the mosaics of the Bardo to the creative legacy of the École de Tunis, Tunisia is a haven for cultural aficionados. Across the country, contemporary art galleries and experimental centers have brought the local artistic scene to the fore, showcasing both Tunisian and North African talent.
In this guide by Xperience Tunisia, we delve into Tunisia’s art galleries and arts scene, which can be explored as part of a broader itinerary. Our private, customizable Multi-Day Tours of Tunisia offer the opportunity to discover Tunisia’s creativity as part of a journey through its history, heritage, and culture. Learn more below, or get in touch with our team about crafting a bespoke trip.
Tunisian Art History: The École de Tunis
To understand Tunisian art today, it helps to look back to the mid-twentieth century, when a group of painters known as the École de Tunis set out to forge a distinctly national visual language. Artists such as Abdelaziz Gorgi and Jellal Ben Abdallah drew on Andalusian style, Islamic geometry, and the everyday textures of Tunisian life, blending them with European modernist technique. Their work, still held in museums and private collections across the region, laid the groundwork for the generations that followed. It is a lineage worth knowing before you set foot in a gallery, as its influence lingers in even contemporary Tunisian studios.
Sidi Bou Said: A Village Shaped by Artists
Perched above the Gulf of Tunis, Sidi Bou Said has long drawn painters, writers, and musicians, and it remains one of the most rewarding places in the country to encounter art. The A.Gorgi Contemporary Art Gallery, now run by Aïcha Gorgi, continues her father’s legacy while championing a new wave of Tunisian and North African artists. Nearby, the Selma Feriani Gallery, housed in a beautifully restored industrial building, has built an international reputation for representing artists from across the MENA region, often placing their work in conversation with the wider contemporary art world. Sidi Bou Said also appears like a work of art, with its blue-and-white streets and views across the Mediterranean.
It is also worth setting aside time for Ennejma Ezzahra, the former palace of Baron d’Erlanger. While not a gallery in the conventional sense, it holds its own remarkable place in the town’s creative history. Built by the French-born painter and musicologist Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger, it houses over 2,000 artifacts and works of art, as well as an exhibition of musical instruments used in Tunisia.
Tunis: A Contemporary Creative Hub
The capital itself holds a growing number of spaces dedicated to contemporary practice, many of them tucked into buildings that were never intended as galleries at all. Central, an interdisciplinary gallery within the Le15 creative hub on Avenue de Carthage, treats exhibition-making as something playful and participatory, drawing a younger, design-literate crowd.
Not far away, 32Bis occupies the former headquarters of Philips in downtown Tunis, a sprawling four-storey campus now given over to residencies, exhibitions, a specialist art library, and a program that regularly brings international curators into conversation with Tunisian artists. La Boîte, on the outskirts of Tunis, is a laboratory for creativity. Since its founding in 2007, it has built its own collection from the exhibitions it produces, more than 200 works spanning installations, paintings, photographs, collages, and mixed media.
Antiquity as Art: The Bardo Museum
No discussion of Tunisian art is complete without a visit to the Bardo Museum, home to the largest collection of Roman mosaics in the world. Housed in a former beylical palace, its galleries hold works of extraordinary craftsmanship, pieced together centuries before the word “gallery” existed. Depicting myths, harvest, and daily life with precision, these mosaics provide a view into the enduring legacy of art in Tunisia.
We often include the Bardo as a highlight of our Treasures of Tunis day tour, pairing it with Carthage and Sidi Bou Said for a day that moves between the past and the present. To learn more about our country’s historic attractions, read our guide to Tunisia’s Historic Attractions and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
La Marsa: A Coastal Hub for Collectors
On a corner of the northeastern coastline, La Marsa has become one of the most important destinations in Tunisia for serious collectors. Elmarsa Gallery, established in 1994 and now with a second space in Dubai, has spent three decades showcasing major modern and contemporary artists from Tunisia and across North Africa, and remains a benchmark for the region’s art market. A newer arrival, TGM Gallery, has brought fresh energy to the town since opening in 2021, with a program that moves between homages to the École de Tunis and the work of emerging painters and artisans, creating a dialogue between heritage and innovation in Tunisian art.
Not to be missed is the B7L9 Art Centre. Opened in 2019 by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Bahr Lazreg, a working-class neighbourhood on the town’s edge, it was conceived as Tunisia’s first non-profit contemporary art centre and remains free to visit. With a striking black-and-white striped façade, developed with input from local residents, the center hosts major exhibitions year-round alongside talks, workshops, and residencies that bring Tunisian and international artists into conversation with the surrounding community.
Weaving Art into Your Tunisian Journey
For travelers who want their time in Tunisia to reflect their own curiosity and pace, a gallery-focused itinerary is easily arranged as part of a private tour. Our team is able to design a day, or several, around the country’s artists and collections, whether that means private introductions at galleries in Sidi Bou Said or a guided morning among the mosaics of the Bardo. Many of our guests choose to combine this with our broader cultural offering, like through our Immersive Xperience Tour, which threads together heritage, landscape, and local life over a longer stay.
If Tunisia’s art world has caught your imagination, we would be glad to help you explore it in the depth it deserves. You are also welcome to begin shaping your own journey with our Custom Tunisia Tours Builder, or simply get in touch with our team to start the conversation.
