Music, Books and Brussels: A Conversation with Elliot Ibouzidene

Meeting artist Elliot Ibouzidene to talk about music, literature and his “unwritings” of Athens and Copenhagen, in an interview conducted for Ket by Nicolas Arquin.

Of all the arts, which one is your favourite?
Oh… music! It is a collective art, and you can do other things while listening to it.
It brings dance, love and ecstasy! “To live without music would be to die every day,” as Nietzsche said.
Music is also universal.

You also love literature; you created a book‑ and reading‑focused Instagram account. Can you tell us more?
On Instagram, you can get closer to the role of an influencer, here for literature.
It’s about influence, about sharing tips and recommendations – and receiving them.
Just like with good booksellers.
I love writing, and writing about books as a kind of literary critic without actually being one; but we can all be that in our own way.
When a book reaches us, the point is to share it through writing.
To find common ground through writing, starting from it.
Writing is not just rewriting.

Is life in Brussels active or passive? And what about yours?
It is versatile! Nothing to add. And those who are one or the other are wrong!

What do you dream of to make yourself happy?
To ward off misfortune. To be happy, life is enough – at least mine is.

What is your favourite book, your favourite music, your favourite visual artist?
Ah… (thinking)… In Search of Lost Time. It is “unsurpassable”. Ah, Proust!
In music: Love the Art of Noise, a great instrumental from the 70s.
And for the artist – because he is multifaceted: Alexander McQueen, the fashion designer.

What is the question you would like me to ask you?
What is life? Us, culture, art, friendship, travel, …

Stroll through Elliot’s two little books…
Make sure you read “Unwriting Athens / 10–15 September 2025”, the madness of a week in Athens with friends, the city, the city that lives, the city that lives deeply.
Sixty pages as hot as Greece: “Red is there, and I no longer hold anything against him, on the contrary I quite like him now, we let go, Emma manages to grab something from the DJ booth, she blows bubbles with it, there are people spraying water around, it’s so hot that we’re all spraying each other. Red has a crush on the DJ (a straight guy, of course). Midnight always strikes, twenty‑six years…”

And don’t miss “Unwriting Copenhagen” either.

If you want them:
Unwriting Athens, 2026, 62 pages, 15 euros
Unwriting Copenhagen, 2026, 19 pages, 10 euros
From elliot.ibou@orange.fr