The house of Zeinab Khatun
Built in 1468, with later additions in 1713, restored in 1996.

I recently received a DAAD scholarship (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) to fund my being in Berlin for a year starting in June 2010 and work on the following project. Stay tuned for updates this coming year as the project develops…

ALTERNATIVE MEMORIAL: BERLIN’S ABANDONED STRUCTURES

ABSTRACT
This project seeks to map a different historical perspective of Berlin and memorialize aspects of its identity through an alternative memorial. The abandoned structures in the city’s transforming neighborhoods provide rich narratives for preserving its past and present an opportunity to address memory in a more accurate form. They serve as frozen time capsules from which memories can be extracted. Threatened with renovations through Berlin’s many gentrification projects, I seek to document these buildings and relay an alternative narrative accessible through electronic mapping tools. As the buildings begin to disappear, an archive of their memories will remain.

The desert challenges the notions of space and time as we define them in relation to the urban setting. We navigate space with a focus on the self; the built environment is a manifestation of the human mind, so the correlation between man and his built environment is unavoidable. There is undoubtedly a complex interlaced relationship between man and the city and, as some scholars suggest, impossibility in disassociating man from his built surroundings despite its isolating tendencies. The desert, on the other hand, challenges how we interpret and interact with our surroundings where the narrative of the self is completely void. Humans become an imposition on such a space and are no longer central to its identity.

Arriving at the desert from a city like Cairo where free space is a contradiction in terms instigates a sort of shock to the body; the lack of clarity on the confines of space and time challenges our understanding of scale and, as a result, confuses our role in space. The desert then becomes an overwhelming environment that humbles our egos. Add to that the surreal visuals of the White Desert and you find yourself in a space that is truly disorienting, almost frightening.

more images >>

The White Desert setting could not be more conducive for exploring these issues of space, time, scale, and identity (not to mention the logistical conveniences of the white rock surfaces and light-pollution-free environment which make it a projection playground). Imposing the mechanization of the city through visual projection allows for a clash of concepts, a layering of contradictory emotions that force us to understand our relationship with space. Simplistic looping animations simultaneously depict an old-fashioned notion of industrial progress and its dehumanizing mechanical quality. The drawings are architectural in concept but with peculiarities that contradict the accuracy and perspective of a structured drawing. The linear marks sometimes shift perspective or disrupt dimension and realism. The intentionally visible ink marks give presence to the hand or the human touch and play with the friction between the city as man-made and the city as machine. Superimposed on the desert’s rock formations, the stark black and white drawings become something out of a science fiction film that transform the landscape into an eerie space.

Cityscapes in the White Desert from Heba Amin on Vimeo.

The trip was made in conjunction with members of Minneapolis Art on Wheels (www.minneapolisartonwheels.org) a Minneapolis based art group which utilizes large-scale projections in public space.

(Live projections by Heba Amin, Ali Momeni, and Jenny Schmid. Sound by Marc Fantini.)

I have received a Rhizome Commission Grant!

The proposal:
Cairo exudes the clichés of a romanticized Ancient Egypt and, through its tourism industry, is banking on fantasy. If one looks up Cairo on the Internet they will find a representation of a city that no longer exists, and perhaps never existed. The contemporary identity of Cairo is confused, where Egyptians are constantly defined by their country’s history rather than the present moment. Today, while its ancient monuments still define the city, Cairo’s contemporary infrastructure is in a deteriorating state.

Heavily populated with abandoned structures, the visuals of the city reveal the neglect for the city’s infrastructure and a disregard for space and resources that could be utilized to aid millions living in poverty. The city’s structures illustrate the government’s incapability in nurturing a healthy physical and social environment. The relationship between the emotional unrest and the physical city structure is quite apparent. This project attempts to raise awareness to the haphazard structures outnumbering the monuments that represent Cairo. It attempts to depict the harsh reality of the physical state of the city and address the role that the urban infrastructure plays in instigating unrest amongst its inhabitants.

Over the next year I plan to locate and research the history (and purpose) of various abandoned structures in Cairo. I will create SketchUp models to populate Google Earth and counteract the skewed understanding of the city’s experience online where only models of historic monuments exist. Additionally, I will establish an identity for a tourism company that gives tours of these abandoned structures. I will mimic the presentation of existing tour guide companies, via brochures and a website; I will attend tours and educate myself on how they are conducted; I will consult with a licensed tour guide, and will, lastly, execute my own tours. This performance will attempt to raise the stature of these abandoned buildings to that of “monuments” and comment on the lack of concern towards Cairo’s present-day inhabitants. The project will attempt to bring to light the correlation between political instability and urban infrastructure as well as the country’s inability to live in the present time.
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Two of the commissions were determined by Rhizome’s membership through an open vote; eight were determined by a jury including Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Design at the Museum of Modern Art; Jason Kottke, blogger, Kottke.org; Henriette Huldisch Independent Curator and co-curator of the 2008 Whitney Biennial; Monica Narula, artist, Raqs Media Collective; and Paul Pieroni, freelance curator, critic and Associate Director of SEVENTEEN.

more info ->

I think more along the lines of “lethargic and defeated”. After having been away for so long and coming back, I find extremely alarming the sense of resignation amongst people in this city. People seem to have given up.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/world/middleeast/18egypt.html

Read Norma Smith Olson’s article “Powerful Portraits: Heba Amin gives faces to extraordinary Muslim women“.

“Halide Edib Adivar, Umm Kulthum, Arwa bint Ahmed al-Sulayhiyya, and Shirin Ebadi are names that may be unfamiliar to many in the United States. They are four women-a scholar, a musician, a queen and a Nobel Peace Prize winner-portrayed in the recently released book, “Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World.” 

It was a learning experience for this month’s cover artist Heba Amin, who painted 11 portraits for the book. “That’s what made this project exciting for me. It exposed me to these amazing women, many that I didn’t know about,” Amin said. In her research for the paintings, she found few pictures of the women. She had the challenge of conceptualizing their images-the perfect project for a women artist who focuses on the intellectual power of art.” [more]

Read my article “Fragmented City: Visualizing the City-Psyche Relationship of Cairo” included in this Spring’s online edition. The article is a condensed version of my thesis research.

Fragmented City photo

Abstract: Fragmented City seeks to address the urban landscape of Cairo and its emotional impact on its inhabitants. The visual characteristics of the city display the deterioration of urban life where masses of abandoned and haphazard structures attest to the government’s laissez-faire attitude in dealing with urban planning. As inhabitable structures take up space and resources, inhabitants of the city begin to clash, rather than coexist with their built environment.

I have explored visual re-interpretations of fragments of the city by translating and relocating visual information through various media. These visual manifestations attempt to portray an emotional experience and perspective of the current political and social climate of the region. I am working from the hypothesis that Cairo’s urban landscape negatively impacts the psyche and plays a significant role in influencing behavior. My visual explorations move from photography, to drawing, to web based environments, installation and projection work. By immersing the viewer in a particular environment, each visual displacement constitutes a re-assessment of scale and visual engagement intended to elicit sensations comparable to those experienced in physical space.

The 2009 Spring edition of the Journal of the New Media Caucus focuses on the theme “Foreignness and Translation in New Media“. Edited by Pat Badani, “The collected essays in this edition provide a thought-provoking expansion on the themes of “foreignness” and “translation”, subjects habitually explored through the lens of identity. The edition expands the discourse to examine different kinds of identifications, translations and geographies – opening up personal, cultural, physical and conceptual definitions. The essays explore the ways evolving technologies are being used by cultural practitioners to re-interpret and incorporate these notions.”

Extraordinary Women From the Muslim World wins the 2009 Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural and International Awareness. Here is a list of the 2009 winners.

Read Jeff Strickler’s Article “Putting a Face on Role Models” in the Star Tribune.

Minneapolis artist Heba Amin didn’t have to be asked twice if she wanted to illustrate a book on female Muslim heroes. Not only was it a chance to get a paycheck from her art after a decade spent earning three college degrees, but it was a project she wholeheartedly embraced.

“I’m very aware of cultural stereotypes,” she said. “The image of Muslim women in the United States is of veiled, oppressed people who have no voice. But in fact, Muslim women have a long history of remarkable achievements.” [more]

“Extraordinary Women From the Muslim World“ wins a 2008 Middle East Book Award in the category of Youth Non-Fiction. More information at: http://www.outreachworld.org/article.asp?articleid=121.