PALIMPSEST: THE TIME OF THE ARCHIVE ALA YOUNIS

02 05 2019
Which time defines archives? The time when the materials were collected, or the present, from which we view the archive? In recent months the Akademie der Künste der Welt has featured a variety of artistic positions dealing with (non) archived histories under the theme found:erased:palimpsest.
The last evening in this series is dedicated to the question of how the present influences our interpretation of the past, and what conclusions we can draw for our own time from our ever-present preoccupation with archives.
The invited artists will focus on events from recent history.

In Plan for Greater Baghdad ALA YOUNIS turns to the documentation of demonstrations of male power in a variety of historical documents about Baghdad’s architectural history, allowing the same story to be told from a female perspective in Plan (fem.) for Greater Baghdad.

ALA YOUNIS is an artist, trained as an architect in Amman. Research forms a big part of her practice, as do curating, collaboration, film, and book projects. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice, Gwangju, and Istanbul biennials, the New Museum Triennial (New York), and the Home Works Forum (Beirut) among other places. Her projects include Tin Soldiers, Nefertiti, An Index of Tensional and Unintentional Love of Land, Plan for Greater Baghdad, and most recently, Plan (fem.) for Greater Baghdad and Drachmas. Younis curated the first Kuwaiti Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and the Museum of Manufactured Response to Absence and its interventions in Algeria, Kuwait, and Ramallah. Younis holds a BSc in Architecture from University of Jordan and MRes in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths, University of London. She is member of Berlinale's Forum Expanded Advisory Board and co-founder of the non-profit publishing initiative Kayfa ta.