BROWNBOOK

Half the World

Jason Rezaian — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:12:20 +0000

Walking along the banks of the Zayandeh River, taking in the views of the city’s numerous bridges and surrounded by stunning architecture from its many places of religious worship it is easy to see why Esfahan has been labelled the Florence of the Middle East. But an Iranian tour guide speaking to a small group of Western tourists fiercely refutes this claim. ‘On the contrary,’ she tells them, ‘Florence is the Esfahan of Europe.’ And so to explore this bold claim… Strolling through the former Iranian capital, which rose to prominence in the 17th Century, the comparison becomes more and more apt. The two cities are mostly intact urban gems of the ancient world; they are religiously diverse and populated with striking architecture. Perhaps the most obvious difference though, might be Esfahan’s lack of package tourists from all corners of the globe. Thus Esfahan remains the domain of the adventurous. In his epic 1933 travelogue The Road to Oxiana, the great British traveller Robert Byron wrote, ‘before you know how, Esfahan has become indelible, has insinuated its image into the gallery of places, which everyone privately treasures.’ Nearly eight decades later –and especially in the 33 years since Iran’s tumultous revolution – relatively few souls foreign to Iran have ventured into Persia’s heartland. While Iranian inbound tourism is still a trickle compared to the flood of visitors to places like Istanbul, Rome and Athens, the rewards Byron wrote about remain largely intact. Esfahan continues to be Iran's most religiously diverse city, with several churches, Zoroastrian temples and, yes, synagogues. Perhaps surprisingly, Iran is home to more Jews - about 30,000 - than any other Middle Eastern nation, except Israel. In a country known for its devotion to religious icons and martyrs, for many Esfahan itself is the ultimate Persian pilgrimage. Built along the banks of the Zayandeh River, Esfahan blossomed when the last great Iranian dynasty, the Safavids, under Shah Abbas I, made the desert city their capital, and, it is said, that Esfahan was the first city in the world to reach a population of one million. Its size and reputation as a cosmopolitan and multicultural crossroads at the heart of the Silk Road gave rise to the still popular expression Esfahan Nesf e Jahan, or ‘Esfahan is Half the World.’ The Zayandeh river divides the city in two, with the more modern parts of the city devouring the south side, and the older quarters to the north. The river is crossed by two of the world's most picturesque pedestrian bridges. The first is Si-o-Se Pol, literally Thirty Three Bridge, named for its 33 arches. The second, the Khaju bridge built by Shah Abbas in 1650, has two storeys and features stone stairs that descend to the river. It's probably the best place in Iran to dip your feet on a hot day. From either bridge it is a leisurely twenty minute walk to the city centre – the epicentre of what made Persia so wonderful; the subtle interplay of form and function, and a precision to detail that still impresses more than four centuries later. Along the way consider a stop at either the very lovingly restored house turned Restaurant, called Shahrzad with its stained glass windows and classic menu, quirkily translated with an array of delights including something called ‘garlic sourness’, or have tea and a shisha in the former caravansari turned hotel, the Abbasi, home to one of Iran’s great courtyard gardens. Continuing to the centre of the old city is what is still one of the largest public spaces on earth, the vast Madain Naghshe Jahan or Reflection of the World Square, second in size only to Beijing’s vast Tiananmen Square. These days, the square is officially known as Maidan Imam, but most residents still refer to it by its original name. Once Shah Abbas’ personal polo ground, Naghshe Jahan square is home to a still thriving series of shops and artisan workshops that sell and produce the arts that made the city famous. The square also houses the highest number of Persian rug shops anywhere in the country, and perhaps on earth. That is not meant to be, however, an endorsement to buy them there. Wandering through the ancient corridors, shaded from the often-scorching desert sun, is one of the greatest pleasures in a city filled with them. Down each alley a fresh set of surprises waits. Ducking into any of the small shops, one might discover an artist using tiny brushes to perform the cherished Iranian tradition of miniature painting; complex scenes, often done on camel bone. Skilled metal craftsman chisel away at decorative plates in record speed. Or follow the cacophony of clanging to discover one of the world’s last centers of traditionally handcrafted metalwork shops where generations of blacksmiths melt, mould and hammer copper and brass into everything from decorative peacocks to gigantic cauldrons which wealthy philanthropists use to prepare soups and stews given as an offering to the masses on holy days. Emerging into daylight, the square is flanked on all sides by masterpieces of old Persian architecture. To the north is the entrance to Esfahan’s labyrinthine old bazaar, where much of the city’s shopping is still done by locals and visitors alike. On the east side of the square is the Ali Qapu palace, Shah Abbas’ six-storey wooden residence that overlooks the square. The real gems, though, are the Jameh and Sheikh Lotfollah mosques, considered by many to be the most beautiful examples of Islamic architecture ever. According to Byron, the latter is ‘Persian in the fabulous sense,’ to which he added, ‘I have never encountered splendour of this kind before. Other interiors came into my mind as I stood there, to compare it with: Versailles, or the porcelain rooms at Schonbrunn, or the Doge’s Palace, or St. Peters. All are rich; but none so rich.’ Naghshe Jahan Square is on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, ranking it among humanity’s most treasured locales, but savouring a moonlit walk after midnight in the empty, but perpetually accessible public space provides something that very few other sites can offer: the feeling that there is a common understanding of beauty that transcends race, religion, taste and time. Photographer: Maryam Rahmanian

Sunny Street Day

Claudia Wiens — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:37:55 +0000

Last week, Tunisia saw its first street art festival take place in the capital, Tunis. Sunny Street Day, on May 13th, was a 12-hour festival celebrating art, music, dance and poetry. With the aim to unite a wide spectrum of artists who wouldn't normally interact, organisers Quinta Communication Productions drafted in the help of local film producer, Tarek Ben Ammar who opened up his Carthago Film Studio for graffiti artists, slam artists, dancers, MCs and musicians to showcase and display their art. There were also ramps for skaters, inliners and BMXers to show off their talents. The idea came from a young trainee at the production company called Asma Chalghoum who just finished her design studies when she joined Quinta. ‘I wanted to unite urban artists of various disciplines and open new ways of communication through a festival’, she explains. ‘I worked on this idea during my studies and was then happy to have the chance to present it to Quinta and they received it so well and really put it into action.’ It was an independent event, financed only by private sponsors, such as ICE Watch, Red Bull and Foodz, a local restaurant chain that gave out free snacks to participants and visitors. Since the day Ben Ali fled Tunisia, its people have begun to reclaim the streets and the cultural scene is beginning to grow. With some freedom of speech, new ways of expressing art are opening up. A handful of graffiti artists are emerging and have begun somewhat boldly with decorating the villas of Ben Ali's family. Performance poetry or slam artists, such as Hatem and Sabri from the Kif Kif group, are championing political satire and cartoonists like Nadia Khiari are experiencing a new spring with her creation of the character of Willis from Tunis - an outspoken and disobedient cat telling the news in a satirical light. However, despite such an upsurge in creativity, there are still venues missing where artists can come together. Only very slowly has this started to change with new spaces developing like independent art galleries or cultural cafes. Festivals like Sunny Street Day are still the exception and it drew large crowds. Around 100 artists participated and around 400 people attended. Dozens of dancers gathered on the big stage and dance crews carried out battles reminiscent of a kind of Middle Eastern West Side Story, while the North African sun relentlessly beat down bringing warmth and life to the festival. ‘It’s fantastic and a total novelty to see this kind of dancing here in Tunisia,’ says 17-year-old Huda. 'I only know this stuff from YouTube, but never got the chance to see such a thing for myself.’ Graffiti artists like Meen One, Sim Vandart and caricaturist, Seif Eddine Nechi had the freedom to spray the walls of the open air film studio bringing it to life with art. ‘We just don’t want to go around and randomly decorate walls and give graffiti a poor image before it is recognised as an art form here. It’s better to have designated spaces to draw on, creating something thought provoking,’ says Nadia Khiari. There were also ramps for skaters and BMXers to show off on. ‘It’s just too good to be true to have good ramps and live music to rollerblade to for a whole day,’ says an enthused Sabri, tending to some minor injury to his elbow. With afro hair and tight jeans, nurturing what seems to be Tunis’ growing disco/hip hop style, Halim,18, adds, ‘It’s a big big party. We skate on half pipes occasionally, but we don’t normally have live music and so many spectators. This adds enormously to the energy. It’s fun!' ‘Quinta Productions is already planning a bigger Sunny Street Day for next year, we are hoping to open up the whole area of the film studio, and doubling the number of participants and spectators,' says Chalghoum. The energy was fantastic and it is quite clear that young Tunisians have great potential to develop their own unique urban street art style. Photographer: Claudia Wiens

Urban Series | Sunny Rahbar

Chris Read — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:22 +0000

One of the founders of The Third Line, Sunny Rahbar has made a conscious effort in promoting art from the region together and creating a platform where Middle Eastern artistic talent can be nurtured.

Grassroots Music

Danielle Simpson — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:30:34 +0000

Music, for the DJ, radio presenter and producer Dany Neville, is something that runs in his veins. His childhood was filled with sounds, from 1990s hip-hop and rap to Arabic music from decades past. He studied to be a recording engineer in Ohio and landed his first radio internship at the age of 18. The musical influences that led him there were, he says, numerous. ‘My father would listen to the likes of George Wassouf and Wadih Al Safi, while my mother preferred Fairuz and Warda. Meanwhile, my two teenage brothers were listening to Michael Jackson, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer and I was into Metallica and Nirvana – non-stop!’ It was quite the education. But nothing could have prepared him for the occupational hazards linked to live radio presenting and his first mistake nearly cost him his career when the radio station had to go off air for two hours. Thankfully for Neville, he had already caught the eye of the programme director who, instead of firing him, promoted him on the spot. ‘He gave me my first DJ gig at Dubai Marina – Tropicana,’ he says. ‘I am indebted to my boss. I consider him like a big brother. He took a stand against all his management to give me a chance. He saw my potential and gave me my future.’ Now Neville is one of the UAE’s most established and successful DJs and he is in a position to pay back the favour to the next generation by giving them a platform for collaboration. As a result Cadillac asked him to be a brand ambassador for their latest campaign to be involved with local artists at grassroots level. ‘Cadillac took me for what I do and for what I represent. I never saw myself as a brand, I guess it’s just the innocent in me.’ The fact that he remains modest about his accomplishments, only serves to highlight how focussed Neville is on his music and his aim to support others in the industry. ‘When I was starting out, people just wouldn’t talk to me,’ Neville explains, ‘and that’s why I promised myself that when I got a break, I would help talented individuals from around the world who happened to call the UAE home. This created a huge snowball effect and I am proud to say that we are now moving in the right direction. I’m working with incredible talent from within the region, the likes of Robin, jp, Karl Wolf, The Narcicyst and Hamdan Al Abri and I’m receiving great support from the public who come to hear me play week after week at the clubs and listen to me on the radio. They’re the ones I owe my success to.’ Until his collaboration with Cadillac, Neville says he wasn’t aware of how he was perceived in the music industry. ‘It’s been very gratifying to learn that I am respected and that Cadillac wants me to represent its brand. It’s humbling and gives me hope. In the same way as I want to give others hope in the region.’ Over the past 12 months, Cadillac has been looking at ways to involve itself with grass roots projects. The company’s initiative aims to help up and coming musical producers and designers increase their exposure and offer them the opportunity to succeed. ‘We work with artists who are active in promoting themselves and represent similar brand values to us,’ says Nadim Ghrayeb, the marketing manager for Cadillac. ‘We don’t believe in breaking the rules, just creating our own. We started working with Dany a month ago. We have a strong heritage in the region, but we have always been associated with the older generation. Through the grassroots programmes, we want to highlight the strength of our products’ design, technology or performance. We want to elevate awareness of the Cadillac brand whilst showing how it complements the lifestyle of young artists, such as Dany Neville, and shares as well as carries them towards their dreams.’ ‘It may be a cliché,’ Neville concludes passionately, ‘but music really is a universal language, not only in the Middle East, but across the world. It is as essential as air to me. Its role is to guide you and teach you right from wrong. I feel like music is the invisible parent. I am thankful that I have been perceived as the ambassador of Hip Hop to the Middle East, but really I think I’m an ambassador for music point blank, and I hope to continue to do this as long as I live.’ Photographer: Matthew Russell

Art in Spaces

Celia Topping — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:39:18 +0000

Mohamed Abla, an Egyptian-born artist who rose to fame for his method of combining European and Egyptian style painting, was the perfect choice for the opening exhibition of Artspace London. The gallery, which opened this week is the new addition to the Artspace family, which began in Dubai's financial district. 'We’ve worked with Mohamed since 2004 and love his work,' says Laili Khalatbari, the managing director of the London gallery. 'We are exhibiting his Family portrait series, among other works, as we want to challenge the western perception of Middle Eastern artists, by showing a different perspective than what is shown in the mainstream press, and thought this work would appeal to the western audience.' Maliha Al Tabari, Managing Director of both galleries, will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Artspace in Dubai this year and feels this is the perfect time for the gallery in London to open. 'Interest in Middle Eastern art has definitely been on the increase in recent years,' she says, 'but it’s still very affordable, it hasn’t reached the heights of Western, Indian or Chinese art yet, so we see this as a fantastic opportunity to keep the momentum going, keep raising awareness and use this gallery as a platform from which to expand and explore, and take our artists to the next level.' The gallery is set in a pretty side street off the King’s Road and close to Chelsea’s Sloane Square, “We’ve been looking for a space in London for a while but couldn’t find exactly what we wanted”, Khalatbari says, “but when this came up it was perfect for our needs. We like being a little bit away from the other, more formal, galleries of Mayfair”. In contrast to the open plan floor space of the Dubai gallery, the Milner Street property has 1600 square feet of exhibition space over two floors. This means the ground floor is dedicated to the solo featured artist in two light, airy rooms, while the downstairs space, accessed by a spiral staircase at the back of the gallery, shows pieces from two or three artists as “teasers” of what’s to come. Both galleries will share Artspace’s contemporary Middle Eastern artists, but Tabari understands the London audience to be a little more diverse than Dubai's. 'The market is different here, more eclectic,' she says, which explains the beautiful, if rather risqué work by Iraqi photographer, Halim Al Karim, in the downstairs space. 'It is this sort of contemporary, edgy work that pushes the boundaries, which is going to appeal more to the western audience,' Tabari explains. 'In Dubai, a buyer generally comes to the gallery knowing what they want to see, but here, there’s more potential for anyone to like and buy the art, it’s more sophisticated in that sense,' she adds. 'In fact, on the opening night, there were three walk-in buyers; they didn’t know anything about Mohamed Abla; they just loved the work.' This is Abla’s first solo show in the UK, having exhibited in the group show, Word Into Art, at the British Museum in 2006. He began his Family series in 2004, in Cairo, during a time when it was impossible to show overtly political work. Instead, Abla painted over old photographs from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, to create charming family portrait images; mothers and daughters, fathers and sons and whole families in formal dress stand or sit against traditional, decoratively stencilled backgrounds, which are reminiscent of the patterns his father and grandfather used to hand-draw and stamp on the walls. 'The sitters are all close family members, relatives or neighbours. It’s important for me to have a relation to the photos, a story connected to them, so every time I look at them, I see and remember the story,' Abla explains,'they are an ironic comment on how much happier, healthier and more self-confident Egyptians used to be; a nostalgic look at life before the revolution, when everything changed.' Photographer: Celia Topping Mohamed Abla is at Artspace London until 9^th June Artspace London 7 Milner Street London SW3 2QA

Painting The Town Multi-Coloured

Katy Gillett — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:50:46 +0000

The rise of street art in the Middle East has become a major talking point all over the world. Typically, it has been for political reasons and often used as a tool for vandalism, but in Amman various groups are trying to promote graffiti as a decorative art form that needs to be properly understood. One such group is a threesome of twenty-somethings who met while working in a market research company. Hanna Abdo, Niveen Gsoos and Nadine Kanaan simultaneously realised the time had come for them to go for their common dream of starting up a food and beverage establishment which found a way to ‘combine coffee addiction with art addiction’. And so they created Café Graffiti. As a fan of prolific English street artist Banksy and as a newbie to graffiti as well, Abdo hopes to raise awareness of it in Amman but in the right way. ‘Just like with all other countries, graffiti itself is an illegal form of art… we offer our customers and local artists a place to draw graffiti inside the café,’ he explains. ‘Hopefully this will create some kind of understanding later on that it should not be vandalism.’ In February this year the café opened and, in the beginning, it was just the three of them alongside another friend, local graffitist Urwa Ahmed, painting the walls. Yet, before long, many other artists joined them with stencils and spray cans, Abdo explains, looking to develop their skills. ‘It’s emerging right now. [Graffiti] is not a very mature area in Jordan. There are lots of amateur artists but nothing like you’d see in London, Madrid or Barcelona,’ he says. The team are now on a mission to hold more events - from workshops to exhibitions, open mic nights to discussion panels – and generally open the Jordanian public’s eyes to street art and its endless possibilities as a tool of self-expression. ‘It’s one form of art the general population has not been exposed to yet and my guess is that if people get exposed to it in the correct way and, even if it is a form of political expression, it will become a popular form of art in Amman.’ Another group of people who are similarly looking to push the creative boundaries in Jordan are ArtMedium who were behind the Amman Street Art Fair. Spokesperson Amal Hammoudeh says that the art industry in Jordan is booming right now and artists are getting more excited about displaying their work as the general public are getting introduced to its various forms. ‘Every time we do an event, I hear visitors saying: ‘Wow, we have lots of artists here in Amman we didn’t know about’,’ she says. The Amman Street Art Fair was first held in 2010, taking place over two days, and included 30 exhibiting artists, music performances and live graffiti painting, bringing in around 2,000 visitors. The second fair, in 2011, lasted five days and attracted over 700 visitors a day, 40 artists and 20 bands. It was held in the Ras Al Ain Park and graffitists took to painting all over the walls of the park for the duration of the event. Plans for Amman Street Art Fair 2012 are now being discussed as, Hammoudeh says, ‘it left a great impact on people and provided street artists with great opportunities to work together and work freely.’ Hammoudeh admits that she did not even know street art existed in Amman until a few years ago. ‘But when we went looking for them we had a good amount and I think people are accepting graffiti as a form of art rather than vandalism and started using it for decorative purposes’. She thanks online promotional tools for the rise in public interest of all artistic techniques. At the end of March, ArtMedium held a different kind of event called Souq Fann, a bazaar promoting various handicrafts and emerging artists and amateurs looking to develop their skills. ‘One of the participants was a woman living in a refugee camp in Jerash,’ Hammoudeh says. ‘She sold two paintings at the event and I heard that she sold almost all of her paintings after the event through online networks that heard of her through Souq Fann.’ Overall, Hammoudeh says people tend to assume that there is a lack of talent in Amman but really, the arts scene is widely misunderstood. ‘There are a lot of artists, great art and little opportunities. We at ArtMedium are trying to create greater opportunities; one, for the artists to expose themselves and two, for the public to engage in something creative. We truly believe that art nourishes the soul.’ Photography: Courtesy of ArtMedium and Café Graffiti

Brownbook + Samsung

Alice Johnson — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:10:51 +0000

Function & Creativity - A Brownbook and Samsung Galaxy Note collaboration. We speak with four creative people based in Dubai; Cyril Zammit, Fair Director of Design Days Dubai; Qais Sedki, author of the Gold Ring; Fashion Designer Tamara Al Gabbani and Pop Artsist Khawla Al Marri. They talk about how innovation and creativity inspires them in their day-to-day lives.

Urban Series | Kamal Mouzawak

Chris Read — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:22:31 +0000

Practising an agenda of food and the ensuing power it holds, Kamal Mouzawak has taken to expanding the food horizons of those around him. With this in mind, we find food as we know it offering much more than the sole purpose of sustenance.

BlackBerry + Brownbook

Alice Johnson — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:23:07 +0000

Three influential artistic personalities talk about their passion for aesthetics, quality and creativity, coinciding with the launch of the new BlackBerry Porsche design phone, the P'9981 - the quintessential smartphone for the elite.

Super Cool

Tristan Rutherford — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:43:46 +0000

From its white-washed cuboid base on the banks of the Bosphorus – more of which later – architectural outfit Superpool use good design to solve social issues. A case in point is their launderette project in the predominately Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, 100km from the Syrian border. A spate of young female suicides caused the city municipality and a team of campaigners to act. By creating a network of free launderettes, the project allowed thousands of often internally displaced women to group, discuss issues and learn about their social rights while washing their laundry, away from the suspicions of male family members. Superpool’s Women’s Guide to Diyarbakir – co-authored with local collaborators – is a socially active map created for these newly urbanised women. With clean lines and colour-coded keys, it unlocks a city for those who rarely stray a few blocks from home. By mapping launderettes alongside cultural activities, counselling clinics and education programs, it has given the city’s women a sense of community and the self-confidence to survive. With its good deeds prerogative, Superpool must be a happy place to work. Upon entering their office, a polyglot chorus of ‘hellos’ rings out as German, Polish and Turkish staff swivel away from their Macs in welcome. Indeed, English is the office language, although agency co-owners, Denmark-born Gregers Tang Thomsen and his Turkish wife Selva Gürdoğan, could converse in several others besides. To add to the happy family feel, their infant son snoozes in a toy-filled pod behind the office filing system. Thomsen and Gürdoğan have design pedigree behind them. They met at the Rotterdam HQ of Rem Koolhaas’ OMA – the world’s coolest architecture and urbanism firm – before heading to the firm’s New York bureau. ‘But after five years in the machine,’ says Thomsen, ‘it was time to set up our own practise.’ Several design-led cities were initially considered as a Superpool base, including Copenhagen and Dubai. They settled on Istanbul, but not entirely for commercial reasons. ‘Five years ago the (Turkish) economy was promising,’ explains Gürdoğan, ‘but wasn’t really delivering on that promise.’ Then they struck lucky. By the first quarter of 2011, Turkey became the fastest growing economy in the world. The private sector began throwing money at cultural and architectural projects, including new art institutions and a tunnel under the Bosphorus Straits. For Thomsen, ‘Istanbul was also a greater challenge, a much less defined space’. The lenient planning laws and sheer inventiveness of what is the largest city in both Europe and the Middle East held an attraction for Gürdoğan too. Indeed, one of Superpool’s first projects was borne less out of commercial sensibilities, more out of getting happily lost during their first few months in town. With an architectural statement in mind, they decided to map out the route plan of Istanbul’s minibus network. These omnipresent transports serve a city of 15 million and are aptly known as dolmuş – from the word dolma, or stuffed. The resulting map was startling. The plan clearly didn’t describe the classic city shape of Istanbul’s historic centre and Bosphorus. Instead it sketched a settlement that stretched along the Sea of Marmara, with a series of mini-centres dotted all the way up to the Black Sea. ‘The less it’s visualized the less it’s cared for,’ says Gürdoğan. ‘Our comment is more along those lines.’ What did the municipality think of the dolmuş map? ‘We mailed several copies,’ says Gürdoğan, but the official reaction was cagey. ‘We tend to think the new Metro map they have in the city’s trams looks very similar,’ she says, tongue-in-cheek, ‘so we like to think that we inspired them somehow!’ Despite controversies, the project did win them interest from a very influential source. The Garanti-bank backed art institution, SALT, were intrigued by the map and wanted to do something on a similar, societal level. They sat down with Superpool and envisaged not just one map but 70. Thomsen takes up the story: ‘They said ‘I would love to see where all the Starbucks are,’ then ‘I want to map out where the public hospitals are’.’ Their resulting publication, Mapping Istanbul, visualises everything from bicycle usage to mortality rates. By overlaying several maps, solutions to city issues are easier to address. For example, Istanbul’s street markets single out nodes of communication across the city. ‘This is exciting because it points to the importance of small businesses,’ says Gürdoğan, ‘like local food vendors or the lady selling herbs.’ If clumsy urban planning destroys these buds of daily commerce, everything from local transport to society will suffer. More alarming reading is the cartography that encompasses Turkey as a whole. The maps show that air and long-distance bus routes are tightly channelled through the Istanbul-Ankara axis and down the touristy western coast. In the rest of Europe and Asia many transport routes run to trade-heavy borders, but along Turkey’s Arabian frontier there are almost none. For Gürdoğan, some of the standard of living maps ‘bring tears to my eyes’. Data-derived plans showing everything from university graduation figures to the number of doctors per population mass are unmistakably skewed from rich west to poor east. Set out on a series of unarguably clear maps, Turkey’s far eastern province of Hakkâri on the Iraqi border seem shockingly deprived. In the right hands, these maps could be powerful ammunition as a force of change. Superpool designs and installations can now be seen at SALT Beyoğlu and SALT Galata, Istanbul’s two massive contemporary art venues, both of which opened in 2011. They also designed the UAE Pavilion at the most recent Venice Biennale, which featured three independent artistic voices looped around a series of half-cylindered white walkways. The exhibition curated by SALT’s director of research and programs, Vasif Kortun was characterised by odd shapes and sharp lines, causing visitors to stop and reflect as they wandered through. So, do the Superpool pair see any barriers in the quest to change the world by visual design? They both cite regional problems in the education system. Abroad and in the West, training tends to be more studio-based says Gürdoğan, claiming that ‘you see the downfall of not having that here in Istanbul’. She was educated for three years at Istanbul Technical University but when she moved to Los Angeles SCI-Arc architecture school, she saw a completely different side. It’s an issue that concerns Thomsen too. In his opinion, when you take away studio interaction from a designer’s education, ‘you only learn from a tutor and what you can come up with yourself.’ This becomes a problem if ‘you don’t see that the guy sitting next to you is designing in a completely different way.’ Perhaps there is some way to go before their way of designing becomes commonplace in Turkey and beyond. ‘After all, it’s not like you can go into a final [university] presentation and pick your students,’ concludes Gürdoğan. Maybe one day further afield, a whole generation of architects and urbanists would hope Superpool picks them. Photographer: Pinar Gedik Ozer