Sbiti, bringing art to the people

Sbiti Abdel Hay was born in Tunisia and emigrated to Switzerland in 1984. Having had his work exhibited in many leading museums, today he sells his paintings for just a few dozen francs in the streets of Bern.

Sbiti Abdel Hay walks with a bent back, a cigarette in his mouth and several paintings under his arm. He is looking round attentively, like someone on the constant search for inspiration.

Born in 1963, Sbiti studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Tunis before emigrating to Switzerland. Aged only 24, he saw his works displayed in Bern’s art museum. Thanks to the support of wellknown artists and curators, his work has been shown in museums including the Paul Klee Centre in Bern and the Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne and galleries such as that of Eric Franck in Geneva.

But to discover Sbiti’s art today, all you have to do is take a stroll through the streets of Bern. Every morning, he arrives by bus from a neighouring town to sell his paintings to collectors, friends or just passers-by.

(Christoph Balsiger and Stefania Summermatter, swissinfo.ch)