Architectural Association Visiting School Bahrain
Bahrain
The School will provide insights into climate change in connection to cultural heritage sites in island states. The students will use filmmaking as a tool to explore and depict this connection. They will be divided into groups, each group will produce a 4-7 minutes film.
Cinematic Climate Cartographies
2 November - 10 November 2023
The School’s agenda explores the intersection of climate change and history through a heritage site whilst reflecting on new modes of representation through the medium of film. Historically, coastlines have constantly been shifting, and in recent years this shift intensified due to changes in the climate. A new discourse has emerged concerning challenges faced by small island states that prompt us to think critically about their nature, ecology, and materiality. Some island states, such as Tuvalu, have recreated themselves virtually and demanded political recognition of them as states even if the land goes underwater. Such acts are the preservation and documentation of an ecology of an island. Not dissimilar from what our ancestors did when they inscribed their history on walls and objects that we found in the future.
The School studies the challenges posed by climate change through the chosen site of Qal’at al-Bahrain and uses the medium of film to contribute to the inscription of the ecology of the island. The site allows for the creative engagement of the participants through data, research, artistic practices, and an intense and layered history.
The participants will work in groups to produce a 4–7-minute documentary film.