An exhibition at Ibn Rachiq Cultural Centre in central Tunis brought together paintings, sculptures and other artworks produced by people with experience of addiction and those in recovery during their participation in a programme that uses art in the later stages of addiction treatment. The initiative allows participants to express their feelings and experiences and discover abilities they did not know they possessed, helping them rebuild their self-confidence and continue their recovery journey.
The artists whose work was displayed do not necessarily come from artistic study or professional backgrounds. Instead, they entered painting, sculpture and other art forms through a therapeutic process. The works they presented reflect personal experiences that began with addiction and moved towards attempts at recovery, self-discovery and regaining the ability to produce something of value.
Abdel Basset Touati leads art therapy
The programme is led by doctor and visual artist Abdel Basset Touati, a specialist in addiction treatment. He said the initiative began years ago out of the conviction that addiction is a widespread, dangerous and complex phenomenon that cannot be addressed through a single stage of treatment.
He explained that recovery requires a multi-stage process, beginning with medical care before moving on to other methods that help patients rebuild their relationship with themselves. According to Touati, medical treatment remains essential at the start, while art later gives patients space to get to know themselves and discover new aspects of their personalities.
He said many participants initially insisted that they could not draw, but were surprised at the end of the workshops by their ability to produce artworks he described as good. The programme is not limited to painting; it also includes workshops in sculpture, mosaics, ceramics and writing, as well as other artistic fields.
The supervising team works with each participant in the field they feel closest to, rather than imposing a single activity on everyone. This allows each person to find an appropriate way to express their experience and feelings. The initiative operates in a Tunisian context where security and judicial approaches overlap with the need for treatment and rehabilitation.
Rise in drug cases increases need for rehabilitation
In September 2026, the head of the Anti-Narcotics Department at the Judicial Police Directorate in El Gorjani announced that the number of drug cases had risen from more than 5,000 in 2020 to more than 15,000 during 2025. Over the same period, the number of people detained for dealing, smuggling or consuming drugs rose from about 10,000 to more than 27,000, according to figures announced by the security official.
The data reflects the expanding scope of drug-related cases, alongside the ongoing debate over the balance between law enforcement and providing pathways for treatment, prevention and the reintegration of people in recovery. Tunisia's Interior Ministry says combating drugs requires action on two parallel tracks.
The first track focuses on tackling supply through security and law-enforcement agencies and border protection, while the second aims to reduce demand through awareness and prevention, with the participation of families, educational institutions, the media and civil society organisations. This comes as debate continues over Law No. 52 of 1992 on combating drug offences.
Parliament considers amendments to drugs law
During May 2026, the General Legislation Committee of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People held hearings with criminal law experts and representatives of the Tunisian Association of Addiction Medicine as part of its consideration of a proposal to amend the law. The discussions covered proposals relating to sentences, mitigating circumstances and the definition of certain offences, as well as issues of consumption, treatment and detention.
Of these, 8269 people were involved in cases relating to trafficking, dealing and forming gangs. The figures highlight the burden these cases place on the judicial and prison systems. While the security and legal response focuses on enforcement, the art therapy initiative addresses what people with addiction face after beginning recovery, particularly the need to rebuild self-confidence and continue living without using drugs.
Art helps people in recovery rebuild confidence
Touati said people with addiction generally suffer from an “internal wound”, adding that art workshops help gradually repair this wound and give people in recovery an opportunity to see themselves differently. Touati believes that fear of relapse remains the greatest challenge, because treatment does not end simply when a person stops using drugs.
He added that continuing is the most difficult part of the process, explaining: “After 6 months, we can say that we have moved beyond the stage where there is a risk of relapse during treatment.” Widad, a woman in recovery who took part in the programme, said the treatment journey “brings the spirit back to life”.
She said that before treatment, a person with addiction “does not know themselves, feels like a stranger to themselves, has not explored who they are and does not know what they can do or the limits of their abilities”. She added that the workshops allowed her to discover an aspect of her personality she had not known about.
After taking part in art therapy, Widad began to see herself as capable of creating. She said: “After treatment, I felt that I was an artist; from nothing, I can make something of value.” She added that the experience restored her love of life and passion after a period when she felt she had wronged her son, before, as she put it, regaining her “sense of motherhood”.
Another woman in recovery, who chose the pseudonym “Iman” and preferred to conceal her features while recounting her experience, said her entry into the world of addiction began after taking medicine for pain in one of her molars, before gradually developing into an addiction. She added that at one point in her ordeal she had considered suicide and that despair set in after doctors, according to her account, were unable to treat her.
Iman said she did not know she had an artistic talent before beginning treatment with Abdel Basset Touati. She later discovered her ability to paint and produce artworks. Describing the change she experienced, she said: “I regained confidence in myself,” considering the discovery of her ability to produce artworks a crucial part of the change she underwent during treatment.
Andira Radi, a professor of dramatic arts at the University of Carthage, said the exhibition included what she described as impressive and creative artistic work produced by people whose experiences and abilities may have gone unseen. She noted that some participants may have lost hope of recovery, but had managed by the end of the programme to present works of such quality.
Radi considers the initiative a pioneering experience in art therapy in Tunisia and the Arab world. While those running it stress that art does not replace the medical treatment required at the outset, the works on display demonstrate its role in later stages, whether by helping people in recovery discover themselves or supporting them as they continue their lives without relapse.
