This document summarizes a presentation on representations of clay in Tunisian fiction films. It begins by discussing how clay relates to the presenter's PhD research on cultural heritage representations. It then provides background on clay, including its role in human creation according to the Quran. Several slides analyze representations of clay in relation to the human life cycle - creation, daily life, and death. As an example, the film "Tayeb" is discussed and how it portrays clay in these stages. In conclusion, the presentation argues the film shows humanity's deep connection to clay from creation through burial.

2. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 2
Since I read the call for
contribution of the first NMCCM,
and despite of having the Cinema
and Audiovisual as my field of
studies, instead of the composite
materials one, I found this
problematic deeply linked to my
thesis (PhD) subject, given that I
am working on the Representations
and Safeguarding of the Cultural
Heritage through Fiction Movies.
Introduction

3. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 3
Cinema is a so fertile representation mode, a puzzle which
mixes music in sound tracks, painting, sculpture and
engineering design in decorations, styling and modeling in cast
costume, anthropology and ethnology axis through illustrated
rituals and celebrating festivities… and so on.
And in many Tunisian fiction motion pictures, we can
distinguish either a direct or a an implicit way of the clay axis
touching : and this is what I will decode in my presentation,
starting first by the clay definition and origin.
As I mentioned in the title of
my contribution, I will decorticate
three clay existing levels through the
human being life cycle: Birth (or
creation), Whole Life and Death
Stage
Cinema and Clay

4. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 4
‫ّحيم‬‫ر‬‫ال‬ ‫ّحمن‬‫ر‬‫ال‬ ‫اهلل‬ ‫بسم‬
ِ‫ر‬‫ّـا‬‫خ‬َ‫ف‬ْ‫ل‬‫َا‬‫ك‬ ٍ‫ل‬‫َا‬‫ص‬ْ‫ل‬َ‫ص‬ ْ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ َ‫ن‬‫َا‬‫س‬ْ‫ن‬ِ‫إ‬ْ‫ل‬‫ا‬ َ‫ق‬َ‫ل‬َ‫خ‬⑭ٍ‫ر‬‫َّا‬‫ن‬ ‫ِّن‬‫م‬ ٍ‫ج‬ِ‫ر‬‫َّا‬‫م‬ ْ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ َّ‫ن‬‫َآ‬‫ج‬ْ‫ل‬ ‫ا‬ َ‫ق‬َ‫ل‬َ‫خ‬َ‫و‬⑮ِّ‫ي‬َ‫أ‬ِ‫ب‬َ‫ف‬
‫َا‬‫م‬ُ‫ك‬ِّ‫ب‬َ‫ر‬ ِ‫ء‬َ‫ال‬‫َا‬‫ء‬ِ‫ن‬‫َا‬‫ب‬ِّ‫ذ‬َ‫ك‬ُ‫ت‬⑯
He created man from clay like [that of] pottery ⑭ And He
created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire ⑮ So which of the
favours of your Lord would you deny?⑯
In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most Gracious
Allah Is right, the Almighty
Surat Arrahman (55) -Verses 14to 16
Sahih International.
ُ‫ه‬َّ‫ل‬‫ال‬ َ‫ق‬َ‫د‬َ‫ص‬ْ‫م‬‫ِي‬‫ظ‬َ‫ع‬‫ال‬–ْ‫ن‬َ‫م‬ْ‫ح‬ّ‫ر‬‫ال‬ ‫سورة‬
Clay and the Human Being’s Creation

5. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 5
Through these verses of
the Holy Quran, Allah
confirms that his creation
of the father of the human
kind: Adam, was made by
the clay.
Azrael (unlike Michael and Gabriel angels, who were not able to
cause hurt to the land) followed the order of Allah and took a handful of
land from the four cardinal points of the earth: red earth, black earth,
yellow earth blue earth, fertile land and infertile land, to which Allah
added some soul from his own, making Adam more valuable and
distinguished then the other beings. And this led to the
heterogeneity of human beings as they exist up to nowadays, varying
between large, medium small sizes, black, white, brown colours, fertile,
non-fertile ...
Clay and the Human Being’s Creation

6. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 6
While looking for the human body elemental composition, I
found this schema that mentions the different components rate,
compared to the whole body mass, and noted the approximately
equal water rate, according to the human being mass and the
globe one.
Clay and the Human Being’s Creation

7. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 7
The human body is made of the same elements and compounds
with which the earth is made of, so it is called: “made of clay”, with
approximately the same rates, such as the bones of dried clay. the
flesh of soft clay and the blood of liquefied clay.
Clay and the Human Being’s Creation

8. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 8
“A clay is”, scientifically defined as: “a paste of fine soil
taken from earth's surface, then used for making idols
and potteries. If it is dried or burnt, it becomes hard and
insoluble in water; if it is diluted with water and mixed
thoroughly it becomes liquid, and if it is mixed with
proper amount of water and mixed thoroughly it remains
a soft paste “(S.Hazarika, 2017).
Clay and the Human Being’s Daily Life

9. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 9
Meeting with his daily needs, the human being has used the
clay for constructing homes and making tools, which are
composed of “over one thousand diverse items including a large
number of small, internationally shaped geometric objects”
(Benison-Chapman, 2013).
So the Clay accompanies us also during our daily life, since
the Stone Age.
Clay and the Human Being’s Daily Life

10. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 10
Due to the heterogeneity and the variance, which figure
between the living beings, the difference of ratio leads to different
behaviors and multiple life styles of the living beings.
And once the human being is dead and buried in earth, all the
elements and compounds mix with earth; and this is due to the
fact that:
(…) the human body is made of bio-composite
materials, which exist in its state as long as life
exist(blood circulation is continued). otherwise it
decomposes and separates to original components (…)
as these are bio composites growth and decay are
possible with the supply of energy in the form of
food. (S.Hazarika, 2017).
Clay and the Human Being’s Death

11. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 11
Representation of Clay’s Different Related Axis
through the short fiction Film: Tayeb of Anwar Lahwar
Unable to rely on the near funeral
washer who was ill, or the far
funeral washer, impotent to come
due to the curfew established after
the revolution; the brother of the
dead person found himself forced
to ask Ounayes, the masseur of
the Moorish Bath, to practice the
rite of purifying the body of the
dead, before burying him. He
accepts it against his will but does
the job in his own way....
Synopsis of the movie

12. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 12Clay and the Human Being’s Creation
We can find the clay existence, in relation with the human kind
creation as follows in this figure:
Human kind father made
of Clay
Same elements and compounds
with which the earth is made of,
with difference of rates
Clay in H.B
Creation

13. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 13
Clay and the Human Being’s Creation:
through the movie Tayeb
The presence of the clay, in every life situation, in the body
composition of every human being, with a different rate, asserts the
clay existence, as Allah created our father through it, then gave life
to the whole following generations, by keeping it such as an
imprint or a DNA in the human body composition.
No newborn was shown in the
movie as a sign of creation: the
filmmaker just followed the shot
of the funeral washing by the
one of a father while cleaning the
hair of his son in the Moorish
bath by the mud/clay use, as a
new life sign, according to such
made chronology in the movie
mounting

14. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 14Clay and the Human Being’s Daily Life :
through the movie Tayeb
Being a purification tool, the
clay washes our bodies from
scum as long as our spirits from
sins, after each taken bath.
Cleaning the body and hair
with clay
Concept, modeling and
creation of masterpieces of
clay
Clay in Daily
Life of H.B
Being a creation tool, the clay
inspires its user to give birth to a
piece of art, representing his
fingerprint and artistic view angle
This excerpt from Tayeb
Short Motion Picture, will
proove this formula

15. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 15Clay and the Human Being’s Death
The funeral washer ritual, always done to purify the dad body , is illustrated
how done in a six minutes sequence.
This is a proof that Clay for death, such as clay for life, is always used in a
purification sense, with a goal to erase all the human beings dirt and made
mistakes

16. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 16
The film poster illustrates the hero in his final situation, while he became a
potter, manufacturing jars., and this does not coordinate with the title of the
movie and its whole story Tayeb, which is a traditional work of a masseur who
works at the Moorish bath, as he cleans out the customers body and had, and
provides them a massage with hot water
The last frame, chosen for the
film poster, is very expressive and
has a very deep vision, showing
the technical outlook full of hope
in the life of the craftsman who
finally found his shadow after
having been lost with the routine
of his profession of masseur and
can be blessed with his artistic
reputation

17. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 17
The movie maker Anouar Lahouar, has well used Tayeb movie to
highlight the clay being the used source by Allah to give birth to his
creature of the human kind.. And since Adam creation, to
nowadays, and even continuously, the human kind race stills
always hinge on such composite material, as a daily life mean of
living needs and artistic expression manner.
Conclusion

18. Fèten Ridène Raissi PhD Researcher ESAC Gammarth—Carthage University
22/10/2017
Slide 18
Conclusion
And once dead, the human being
will turn back to the clay, either by
washing his sins by clay, or
burying his body back to the clay
land, then to a homogeneity with
the soil, after a much heterogeneous
variation between him and his
surrounding alive human bodies..
This is what confirms the most deep relation that may ever
exist between the human body and the clay, being created
from , living through and finally buried in.

19. REFERENCES
 BAHRI Send Objets de Tunisie [Livre] / éd. SIMPACT. - Tunis : CARREBLEU EDITIONS, 2011. - 978-9938-832-00-6.
 Bennison-Chapman Lucy Ebony Geometric Clay Objects [Book Section] // Substantive Technologies at Çatalhöyük: Reports from the
2000-2008 seasons (Çatalhöyük Research Project Volume 9). - [s.l.] : I.Hodder, 2013.
 El-Naggar Dr. Zaghloul elnaggarzr.com/en/man.php?id=39 [Online] // elnaggarzr.com. - Dr. Zaghloul El-Naggar. - 18 10 2017. -
http://www.elnaggarzr.com/en/main.php?id=39.
 Hazarika Sanjan Interview with the Indian Professor of Physics from Kaziranga Universty about the Clay, Composite mterials of Human
Bodies according to Physics and in Holy Quran [Interview]. - 10 2017.
 Hazarika Sanjan Order of creation of living beings on earth according to Quran [https://www.slideshare.net/SanjanHazarika1/order-of-
creation-of-living-beings-on-earth]. - Kaziranga, India : SlideShare, 23 July 2015.
 M'RABET Abdellatif Note sur l’utilisation du sel ou de l’eau de mer chez les potiers de Tunisie [Article] // AFRICA, Série Arts et Traditions
Populaires. - Tunis : Institut National du Patrimone, 2001. - 13.
 Muller Arthur Le Moulage en Terre Cuite dans l’Antiquité : Création et Production dérivée, Fabrication et Diffusion [Article] // Septentrion-
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978-9938-05-954-0.
‫األنور‬‫الحوار‬‫اب‬ّ‫ي‬‫الط‬.-‫اميلكار‬‫فيلم‬+،‫الثقافة‬ ‫وزارة‬2011.
‫من‬ ‫اآليات‬14‫الى‬16-‫حمان‬ّ‫ر‬‫ال‬ ‫سورة‬‫من‬ ‫اآليات‬14‫الى‬16-‫سورة‬‫حمان‬ّ‫الر‬[‫كتاب‬ ‫من‬ ‫مقطع‬]//‫الكريم‬ ‫القرآن‬.
‫النوري‬‫بوزيد‬‫عرائس‬‫الطين‬.-CineTeleFilm،2002.

20. FETEN RIDENE RAISSI
https://cnas.academia.edu/frr
http://www.theses.rnu.tn/fr/dynamique/fiche.php?id=19728
fridrai@gmail.com