“Permanent Temporariness” by Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti

Description

Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti are the founders of Campus in Camps, an experimental educational programme located in Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine, exploring and producing new forms of representation of camps and refugees. They are also the co-founders, with Eyal Weizman, of Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency (DAAR) in Beit Sahour, which combines an architectural studio with an art residency, working at the intersection of politics and architecture.

Drawing on their experience in refugee camps, the two ask: What is the role of cultural workers in acknowledging and challenging the condition of permanent temporariness—a way to describe contemporary life with all its uncertainty? This talk introduces four key concepts in Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti’s practice: the commons, participation, hospitality, and heritage—words that explore the conditions of refugeehood that goes beyond the vocabulary of aid, help, and development.

Currently part of AAA’s Residency Programme, Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti examine the social, economic, and political consequences of exile and displacement. They reveal what it is like to live a temporary life in a refugee camp, or becoming a citizen with a permanent residency permit.

Registration is required for this free event.