Structures of Displacement – Harsham Camp, Erbil, Iraq

A project by [applied] Foreign Affairs in collaboration with UNIDO and Kieran Fraser Landscape Design, presented in an exhibition curated by Baerbel Mueller and Frida Robles.

An international symposium, Structures of Displacement, with Alessandro Petti / DAAR, Mario Rizzi and Romola Sanyal, moderated by Isin Önol, conceptualized by Baerbel Mueller and Frida Robles            

According to the latest UNHCR report (2018), there are 70.8 million displaced people in the world.The tangible and intangible dimensions of (forced) human displacement are complex, whereby each displacement situation has its own very specific structures, while at the same time, it is generated by common underlying parameters. In 2015 and 2016, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq saw a large influx of displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees from areas that were under the control of ISIS.

The exhibition and symposium Structures of Displacement reflects upon a collaboration between [applied] Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) that has resulted in the conception and design of a communal facility implemented next to Erbil´s Harsham Camp. Zooming out from this project to a global discourse, Structures of Displacement questions the roles of mapping, planning, architecture, and spatial manifestations within such contexts.

[a]FA team: Alejandra Loreto, Baerbel Mueller, Chien-Hua Huang, Franz Sam, Ilias Klis, Mina Bassam Ahmed Al-Hayawi, Stefanie Theuretzbacher, and Jonathan Paljor

Parallel program: Film screening and discussion with Mario Rizzi, October 19, 4:00 pm