Iraq 2021

Title: Ark Re-imagined: The Expeditionary Pavilion,
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture
Curators: Safina Projects and Edge of Arabia
Exhibitor: Rashad Salim

For Iraq’s first national pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, artist Rashad Salim defies the standard concept of the Ark based on European boat building techniques. He proposes an Ark “of its time and place”: a structure based on the boat types of the ancient Flood period that created the current Gulf. He interprets the Ark concept as an inquiry into Iraq’s cultural heritage: since 2016, he engages with artisans from all of Iraq to revive what remains of Iraqi boatbuilding, architecture, and craft practices. The exhibition engages with the pavilion’s architecture, highlighting the connections between the Venetian and the Iraqi environment.