Mudun Exhibition - Vitra Design Museum 2017
The exhibition Mudun, Urban Cultures in Transit was presented in 2017 at the Vitra Design Museum. through ten years of research and documentation by the Dubai-based magazine, Brownbook, these distinct mudun (‘cities’ in Arabic) include Ankara, Baghdad, Sharjah and Tangier, as well as the diaspora in Altach, Nashville, Santiago and Södertälje.
As a whole, this region’s rapid urbanisation has resulted in heterogenous city landscapes that oscillate between deeply rooted connections to tradition and an openness to globalisation and technological progress. Because of this tension the cities of the MENA region provide the grounds for a number of paradoxes – for individual opportunity and development, conflicts and injustice, for both the establishment and for subcultures, as well as for debates about identity and participation in the urban habitat.
After a decade of documenting thousands of researched articles on contemporary culture in the MENA region, the Brownbook archive now provides the input and material for the development of this joint exhibition project. The resulting collaged presentation of photographs, text, audio and film offers a thorough and authentic reflection of the region’s multifaceted urban transition since the 1960s. Burnt clay models (made by designer Xeina Malki) representing a number of public buildings in this region also speak to an architecture that was created as a symbol of its time.
Ankara, Baghdad, Tehran and Tangier are vibrant metropolises of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). They pulsate with an innovative cultural life – despite the political headlines. The exhibition »Mudun مدن Urban Cultures in Transit« views these cities from a micro-perspective, examining their architecture, urban neighbourhoods and the protagonists who shape them.
What is the significance of the architectural heritage left by the twentieth century? And where have political conditions impacted and transformed the urban structure? What kinds of intercultural identities are engendered in the diaspora? »Mudun مدن Urban Cultures in Transit« puts a focus on these questions.
The exhibition examines contemporary urban culture in the MENA region – an area whose metropolises provide space for critical debate, sub-cultures and an artistic avant-garde. This is illustrated by examples from the Middle East and North Africa, presented in the form of architectural models, photographs and texts. The architectural heritage of Modernism, the current situation in urban agglomerations and the stories of people living in the diaspora demonstrate how urban spaces shape cultural identity.
The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections – »Architecture«, »Places« and »Societies« – which portray buildings, urban neighbourhoods and people. The first section, »Architecture«, encompasses ten models of public buildings.
Completed between 1960 and the present day, the depicted structures include Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Baghdad Gymnasium after plans by Le Corbusier. At the time of their construction, they were regarded as symbols that would strengthen the identity of a community – or an entire nation. The models are surrounded by contemporary photographs.
»Mudun مدن Urban Cultures in Transit« features contemporary photographs and models that convey the dynamic atmosphere of individual locales. The Brownbook magazine archive served as an important source for the exhibition. Over the course of an entire year, the magazine’s editors and the Vitra Design Museum discussed the content and design of the exhibition in collaboration with a large group of curators. The foremost aim was to give visitors a direct experience of these cities and their inhabitants. The title of the exhibition, »mudun«, is the Arabic word for »cities« – the plural form of the word »Medina«.
Mudun مدن — Urban Cultures in Transit