Space Lab

The refurbished space lab is dedicated to thinking about, with, through and from space; not necessarily outer-space, the universe or SpaceX’s planned Mars “conquests” even though all of them related to the lab's work. Our focus will be critical spatial inquiry. The idea is that if we think from the point of view of space, a number of relationships and issues will surface. This year’s focus will be “Living, researching and acting in the Anthropocene”. The lab invites its participants to explore of following spaces/sites: the Nile, the desert, the human body, the industrial zone or port, the neighbourhood and the agricultural field. Starting from these, a number of thematic issues will be unpacked, i.e. land rights, infrastructures, finance, labour, mapping, technologies of geo- or bio-engineering and we will see how they relate to and affect each other.

Contemporary debates such as those on the Anthropocene and climate justice will be introduced with a particular focus on research and environmentalism happening in Egypt while also placing these issues in their broader context. Methodological approaches will include New Materialism, psycho-geography, science-fiction writing, fieldwork-driven research as well as action-oriented participatory research. Outcome of the Space Lab will be an individual or group project in which you will be able to investigate an environmental/spatial issue or site in Egypt yourself. The format can be a text (academic or story), or a visual or audio collage (exhibition).