THE HOUSE

A bit of history :

The house was built between 1887 and 1908 by a Frenchman, named Alain Fournials a native from Abresle, who gave this name to the property. M. Fournials, fascinated by the oriental gardens, tried to reproduce in his garden an oriental orchard. He planted three grenadiers coming from Gabes, an olive tree, a fruitful palm tree, a loquat tree and other lush southern plants still present after more than 100 years.

Mr. Fournials died in 1927 and the house was ceded to a religious association whose vocation was the accompaniment of the elderly. The charity constructed a chapel which sheltered a Roman altar until 1971 before it was offered to the church of Tunis.

Several religious associations followed one another until 2014 whose task was to organize a tutoring for the benefit of the younglings in the surroundings. Nowadays, School support classes for neighborhood children are still given free of charge in the library right next to the residence.

The project DAR MESO saw the light in Autumn 2019, and since that, more than a hundred artists were hosted, both international and local.

The residence comprises :

2 kitchens : one in the ground floor with direct access to the garden and one in the first level, closer and easier to the living quarters.
2 bathrooms and 1 water closet
6 rooms with different atmospheres and decorations : Berber style, vegetal decoration, Tunisian style and also 30’s …
A chapel revamped into a multifunctional room
An office/workshop in the first level
one ceramics workshop
a living room

The garden, with its banana tree, hundred year old pomegranate trees and numerous fruit trees, offers peace and quiet in the heart of the downtown. You can also seek for lonesomeness on the flat roof overlooking the entire medina.

Dar Meso offers each artist a room with storage space and a personal workspace. Artists will have a co-working space within the chapel.
The workshop is equipped with the basic tools for handiwork as well as other special tools...

We are a belgo-tunisian couple in their thirties :

Youssef Ettourjoumene :

Energy engineer from Tunis, I worked for 10 years in fossil energy before starting this new adventure that is DAR MESO. I love to tinker, garden and live on simple things and am especially fond of arts and music in particular. I like cultural exchanges and debates and am born to serve others. this residency is two dreams come true in a single project, supporting the artists to enjoy the fruits of their creation.

Florence Vieira:
Originally from the south of Brussels and a graduate in cinematographic techniques. I discovered Tunisia in 2010 while working as a production and director assistant on a documentary. Since then I have multiplied experiences in this country and elsewhere; journalism, communication and direction advisor. I am currently working on writing a fiction movie. I am passionate about art in general, travel and DIY. Since I was a teenager, I dreamt of a project that would combine simple life, art and community life. I finally decided to launch this project in Tunisia to become a pioneer in the country's cultural life development and to create bridges between European, African and Arab cultures.

Our mission :

Our core purpose is to promote artists whether professional or fledgling by offering them a change in scenery boosting inspiration, spaces for production and cultural merging experiences.

The artist will be autonomus in his creation, Dar MESO will provide tenants with an environment that offers tranquility, change and contemplation to foster innovation, an array of work spaces (shared and isolated) to enable creation, and a return to nature within a rustic and talkative surroundings in the very heart of the city.