All images © Bachir Tayachi
The Tunis-born fashion artist uses photography to express the complications of queer love and personal history
An apparently empty warehouse – B7L9, a new art centre in the Tunis La Marsa district – hosts three rooms that encapsulate different phases of the artist’s emotional journey after a breakup, from the aftermath of loss to the possibility of rebirth. In My Room is Bachir Tayachi’s first solo show in Tunis, part of the Jaou Biennial 2024, which took place throughout the fall last year. Still and moving images, soundscapes, and interactive elements make up the large-scale installation by the Tunis-born artist and photographer, a project developed over a year between Tunis, a residence in Marseille, and a second one in Pakistan.
Tayachi describes the redemptive journey of In My Room as “a visual experience of a heartbreak”, which is specifically true for the staged short film of seven men embodying the masculine par excellence: tall, sexy, and strong as the man the artist’s ex partner felt attracted to the night of the break up. In the first room, we are confronted with a rage room where the film sets the tone for a deeply personal episode of a break up hinting at a major trauma in the artist’s life. It serves as both an ode and an invective to masculinity, encompassing men, taxi drivers, lovers, and haters.
At the heart of Tayachi’s exploration lies the universal narrative of overcoming adversity – a theme central to countless myths across cultures. Viewers are invited to witness this journey and empathise with the protagonist’s struggles, seeing reflections of their own experiences in the artist’s story of heartbreak, starting from rage and from square one of the artist’s aversion towards the masculine: his relationship to the father, embodied by the figure of the taxi driver, key to shift to that major trauma involving his father – another narrative Tayachi is already conceiving and working on. A new project aiming not only to deepen the traumas informing his artistic practice but also to enhance his relationship with new media, AI, and all forms of interaction between people and art, thereby creating stronger bonds within himself, his art and all those encountering it.



“It’s a choice to be true to oneself”
Tayachi also draws his artistic work narratives from the restrictions and threats faced by him and the queer community in Tunisia. Through photography and art, he aims to create a safe space for individuals to express themselves and share their personal and professional practices. “It’s a choice to be true to oneself and the other,” he says, addressing the courage it takes to be an artist willing to express personal traumas and present oneself in the public sphere in an environment where freedom is nothing but something longed for. This position of the artist should not be overlooked, as it pertains to their role as advocates for rights, especially when physical and virtual realms are restricted, censored, and unsafe.
Throughout his brief career as a visual artist and fashion photographer, Tayachi has sought to balance beauty and technical precision while embodying the emotional depth of his work, stating, “emotions are a language in itself, understood globally.” Acknowledging the hyper-aesthetic language of fashion films and photography, Tayachi’s artistic and personal work blends evocative environments, stunning visuals, and relatable narratives, all produced with the support of a close-knit community of like-minded creatives, from models to makeup artists and friends. His visual language features highly-contrasted and saturated beautiful faces and bodies hinting at Avedon’s stylistic plasticity. Tayachi’s eye for intense gazes and volumes and ability to capture his sitters’ energy result in graphic photos celebrating diversity and self-esteem.




At the core of Tayachi’s practice lies the fostering of a safe space to communicate and co-create, supporting each individual’s pursuits through a community-driven approach that transforms personal narratives into collective ones. Creating has become for him a way of normalising certain emotions and impulses – a form of therapy intended to legitimise self-love, deep listening and to connect with others, both in the production and in the restitution phases.
Working towards a major involvement in installation art, Tayachi finds the interactive, technological dimensions to be a necessary vehicle of connection to themes, environments and subjects of exploration. “For me, to engage with technology is key to expanding my own growth as a visual artist and the publics’ possibilities of connecting with my art practice,” he explains. And experimenting with the interactivity of art means Tayachi has to be open to embracing the unpredictability that comes with giving the public major involvement and closeness to the personal narratives he unveils.
Tayachi’s most recent show within the Jaou Biennial programme marks not only his first solo show but also his personal commitment to undertake a journey of self-exploration and more ambitious projects, which he hopes to pursue in Europe, through education programmes and a constant confrontation with a foreign art market and public outside Tunisia.

