The Fish Smuggler - 2018

The Fish Smuggler is a series of five X-ray images of fish inside a suitcase, installed in a lightbox. Fish is a repetitive symbol in Chaddad’s work, evoking stories of seasonal movements, migration and a layered sense of belonging.

In Chaddad’s hometown of Djerba, in the south of Tunisia, the fish is a symbol connected to providing protection from the evil eye, and as a result, is a recurring theme in Chaddad’s work. This artwork runs parallel with Chaddad’s sense of nostalgia and family history, as a Tunisian Jew who immigrated to Jerusalem with his family at an early age. 
The location of the show, Mucem museum in Marseilles, is the same location where the immigration camp where Chaddad’s family stayed on their way to Jerusalem from Djerba.
The x-ray mimics what appears on the screens of luggage scanners at airports whenever the artist travels from Tunis to Jerusalem, where his mother still lives. She always asked him to bring fish from Tunisia, a request that seems impractical considering that the two countries share the same sea.

Printed X ray, wooden lightbox, glass, LED light

2020 Heartbeat Fundraiser for Beirut Relief Fund, Kamel Lazaar Foundation

2018 MUCEM, Marseilles