France’s former French citizens of Algeria, the Pieds-Noirs, include one of Europe’s largest diaspora communities in the twentieth century. This diverse group of people settled in Algeria during the colonial years, and after one-hundred and thirty years of French colonial rule, Algeria fought for and won its independence in 1962. The seven-year war was traumatic for both the Algerians and the French living in the colony, and nearly one million people crossed the Mediterranean during and after the war to make a new home in France.

Patrick Altes was born in 1957 in Algeria after the war had begun. Altes’ wounds are not physical, and because of his age at the time of independence, he does not have a sense of proprietorship of this country. Instead, his experience of Algeria has been largely through the scope of independence, and he feels no right to mourn his homeland.

Patrick Altes writes for Curating the Contemporary

Patrick Altes' work has been recently reviewed. Click here to download and read the review.

Patrick Altès is featured in the Francophone Africa research cluster, where he explains the genesis of his new work, Les Riches Heures, selected by the FIAC.

Patrick Altes is at the top of the list of 16 Algerian contemporary artists to know now, an article in Art Radar.

In this article in Al Watan, Patrick Altes talks about his work featured in "Parenthèse…", an exhibition part of the 7th International Festival of Contemporary Art at the MaMA (Musée d’art moderne et contemporain) in Algiers.

Patrick Altes was featured in London exhibit explores Algerian identity, an article in The Arab Weekly exploring what it means to be Algerian and talking to artists including Patrick Altes.

In this BBC interview featuring Janet Rady Fine Art artist Patrick Altès, curator Toufik Douib talks about Algerianism Part I, a group exhibition and a collaboration between Toufik Douib and Patrick Altès.

The Culture Trip takes a deeper look at Janet Rady Fine Art as part of the top London galleries influencing the growth of Middle Eastern artists. Read the article here.

In this inspiring article, Patrick Altes and Dr. Natalya Vince discuss Altes' residency at the University of Portsmouth, where he worked in the School of Languages and Area Studies for ten months in 2012-13 and was funded by the Leverhulme Trust’s Artist in Residence scheme.

"Patrick Altes’s brings a new perspective to this public debate. Through art, he succeeds in challenging both pied-noir nostalgia about ‘French Algeria’ and academic and popular preconceptions – and indeed misgivings – about what a pied-noir voice might represent."

To know more about Patrick Altes, visit his artist page here.