"Triki draws principally on his own country's oral tradition of folk stories."
Triki's paintings and engravings are filled with mystical symbols and patterns inspired by his Berber heritage. His abstract surreal compositions are filled with flora and animal forms, reflecting his experience of working on the land, but also with popular figures wearing archaic outfits.
Although connections can be made with the imaginative world of the Swiss artist Paul Klee, Triki draws principally on his own country's oral tradition of folk stories. Born in 1949 in Nabeul, Tunisia, Triki studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Tunis before pursuing a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris. He started his career living and working between Tunis and Paris in the mid-1970s and 1980s. Triki retired in the natural world of his native town of Lezdine in north-eastern Tunisia, grounded in the rural community. His work has been widely exhibited in Tunisia and abroad since the mid-1960s, including at the Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris - Centre Pompidou and the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. He was awarded the Presidential Prize of Tunisia in Painting. His works are featured in many private and public collections mainly in North Africa, Europe and the Middle East.