Azouaou Mammeri

Azouaou Mammeri (1890 or 1892—1954), also known as Si Azouaou Mammeri, was an Algerian painter born in 1890 or 1892 His family was that of hereditary Caïds, and the region in which he was born near the Kabylia Mountains was considered favorable for the colonial administration's goals of educating the indigenous in French language and culture. From 1906 to 1909, he attended l'École Normale d'Alger in Bouzareah, a training college for schoolteachers. His article in the December 1918 issue of France-Maroc contained among other things, one of his important early works, Koranic School. The drawing is similar to his oil painting titled Interior of a Koranic School which is at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Koranic School painting, along with a few others, were featured in an exhibition in Paris in 1921. The woodcuts were said to be from the Society for the Diffusion of French Knowledge in America by a New York Times article, which reflects how critics of the time perceived Mammeri as an "Occidental artist". Mammeri listened to the various problems of locals, who were also excited by Mammeri's art.

Members of Mammeri's extended family include anthropologist Mouloud Mammeri (1917–1989). Mammeri's grandson Azwaw Mammeri (1954–2021), who signed his name as "Azwaw", was also a painter.

Main exhibitions Collective exhibitions : 1917 : Paris 1921 : Paris, Pavillon de Marsan 1921 : Algiers, Salon des Orientalistes Algériens 1927 : Algiers, Salon d'Hiver 1930 : Algiers 1931 : Paris, and in the following years Casablanca, Cairo, London, Oran, Rabat 1934 : Naples, Seconda mostra internazionale d'arte coloniale, 1935 : Marrakech, 1er Salon de la France d'Outre-Mer 1936 : Tunis, Salon de Tunis 1937 : Paris, Exposition universelle 1937 : Algiers 1949 : Oran 1951 : Monte-Carlo, Exposition artistique de l'Afrique française 1953 : Constantine, Algeria, 20e artistique de l'Afrique française 1958 : Brussels, Exposition universelle 1963 : Algiers 1974 : Turkey, Algerian Painters 1999 : Algiers 2003 : Marseille, Château Borély and Paris, Orangerie du Sénat, Le sicile de XXe dans l’art algérien

Personal exhibitions : 1921 : Paris, Galerie Feuillets d'art (preface by Léonce Bénédite ) 1924 : Algiers 1925 : Galerie Georges-Petit, Paris (Marshal's letter by Lyautey ) 1927 : Cleveland Museum, Brooklyn Museum and French Institute 1952 : Algiers, galerie Bosco 1966 : Algiers, Exposition rétrospective, Galerie Pasteur

Museums Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris : Intérieur de la mosquée Karaouine, 1921 National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, Algiers : Village kabyle Ahmed Zabana National Museum, Oran : La porte à Mogador Musée d'Orsay, Paris : Vue de Fez, 1921 Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio : Interior of a School Coranique, 1923 Cirta National Museum, Constantine French Institute Alliance Française, New York