Space Wars

Oftentimes viewed as a counter to the forms that constitute the metropolitan, the surrounding and seemingly unoccupied landscape serves as the nation’s functional staging ground through resource extraction, agricultural cultivation, military installations and cultural sedimentation. While necessary for the support and production that fund and logistically provide for the city-state, these landscapes remain isolated, both spatially and in discourse. 

For Kuwait, the year 2021 marks the 70th anniversary of the first master plan and the 30th anniversary of the Gulf War (also known as the “First Space War”). As we absorb the year and the milestone it represents, new development plans are set that inform the expansion beyond the metropolitan—ultimately converging with the hinterland. As the radial city’s imminent growth looms, the status of these spaces remain in question. Their competing functions and ambiguous growth patterns will inevitably lead to “space wars” that compete for survival. 

Commissioned by Zahra Ali Baba of the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters, the Kuwait Pavilion at the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale responds to the theme set forth, “How will we live together?,” through the discovery, interpretation, and projection of the hinterland. The curators, Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, Saphiya Abu Al-Maati and Yousef Awaad, have brought together contributors from across a number of fields to initiate a conversation around historical traumas, investigations into neglect, and hopeful futures for forgotten spaces, bringing to light the role of the desert in contemporary discourse.

The acompanying publication entitled Space Wars will be available at the opening of the pavilion and throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Commissioner
Zahra Ali Baba, National Council for Culture Arts and Letters

Curators
Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Yousef Awaad Hussein

Contributions and collaborations
Abdullah AlGhunaim, Abdulaziz AlJassim, Atlas of Places, Ayesha Kamal Khan, Aiysha Alsane, Bab.nimnim Design Studio, Dani Ploeger, David Green, Faysal Tabbarah, Formlessfinder, Jawad Altabtabai, LCLA Office, Mohammed Alkouh, Maees Hadi, Nada AlQallaf, Post Petroleum Society, Reem Alissa, Dana Alhasan, Samia Henni, Sara Alajmi, Sara Al-Ateeqi, Sijal Collective, Studio Toggle, The Open Workshop

Art direction
TB.D Studio (Fahad AlHunaif and Yousef AlIbrahim)

Project coordinators
Jaber AlQallaf, Alaa Baroun

Administrative support
Kamel AlAbduljalil, Dr Tahani AlAdwani, Dr Sultan AlDuwaish, Rashed AlAtal, Abdulaziz Almazeedi