BLUE: Architecture of Peacekeeping Missions
Under the auspices of Het Nieuwe Instituut, Malkit Shoshan was appointed curator of the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016, which has ‘Reporting from the Front’ as its overarching theme.
Architect Malkit Shoshan (Israel) was a fellow of Het Nieuwe Instituut for the past two years. She focused on the progressive way in which The Netherlands contribute to UN peacekeeping missions, which have the ambition to see the UN base not as a closed fort but as a catalyst for local development.
The presentation ‘Blue’ in the Dutch Pavilion centers on a case study of Camp Castor in Gao, Mali, where the UN are carrying out a peacekeeping mission. The confrontation between different systems – foreign and local, military and civilian, settlement and desert, Blue Helmets and the Tuareg people, the crisis and the Dutch response – provides the prerequisites for new spatial conditions. By linking cultural research to architectural research, the Dutch submission to Venice aims to make visible the spatial challenges and opportunities of this complex situation.
‘Blue’ presents a new series of narratives for architecture in conflict areas, central to which is the potential to improve the lives of millions of people. These stories are based upon conversations with military engineers and architects, anthropologists and economists, activists and policy makers.
Exhibition ‘BLUE: Architecture of Peacekeeping Missions’
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 – Dutch Pavilion
Until 27 November 2016
Giardini, Venice
blue.hetnieuweinstituut.nl
Photos: Iwan Baan, Malkit Shoshan