03 May 2016

Open call - Participate in the making of the Memory Matrix

Celebrating a Century of MIT in Cambridge (MA), the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology announces guided tours and open call for participation in the 'Memory Matrix: A Monument to Future Heritage'
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Cambridge, MA (May 3, 2016) – In conjunction with the centennial celebration of MIT's move from Boston to Cambridge – running from Apr 23 to May 7 - the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) is hosting five guided tours of the Memory Matrix project led by the artist and ACT Assistant Professor Azra Aksamija and invites the public to participate from May 9. Created through collaborative and transdisciplinary efforts, this public space installation explores how art and cultural heritage can play a role in promoting greater sensitivity to loss in other countries. At this very moment, our history is being rewritten through the destruction and looting of cultural heritage in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other regions that are currently suffering acute conflict and crisis. Culture has become a central target of war and conflict because cultural heritage is often powerful evidence of our (co)existence. With this monument-in-the-making, Aksamija and her collaborators are exploring how communities threatened by war can document their material and immaterial heritage as indestructible evidence.

The monument itself is made of border fences carrying over 20,000 small fluorescent Plexiglas elements or 'pixels.' These elements are laser cut with holes outlining vanished and threatened heritage from different parts of the world. Each pixel also bears a code that is linked to the project website and databank. The larger matrix of pixels reveals an image of the recently destroyed Arch of Triumph from the ancient city of Palmyra (Syria), made visible through the movement of light and wind. Palmyra is one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world and was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Memory Matrix aims to promote peaceful co-existence by validating global cultural heritage through art, digital fabrication, and transcultural exchanges. The project's collaborative making process, which involves students from across the campus and beyond, directly references MIT founder William Barton Roger's vision of hands-on collaboration. It is also inspired by the ethos and tireless peace advocacy of MIT's 13th President Jeremy Wiesner, after whom the building E15 is named. More than an art installation, the Memory Matrix is a solidarity-building and educational enterprise, and an attempt to seed support for Syrian refugees.

The Memory Matrix was conceived by MIT Assistant Professor Azra Aksamija and is co-developed and produced with the help of a diverse range of partners within the MIT community and participants from the Maker Faire in Cairo and Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.
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For more information about the project, visit:
memorymatrix.org/
act.mit.edu/projects-and-events/events/projects/memory-matrix/
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ABOUT AZRA AKSAMIJA
Azra Akšamija is an artist and architectural historian, an Assistant Professor of the Arts at MIT's Art, Culture and Technology Program. Her recent academic research focuses on the representation of Islam in the West, architecture and conflict in the Balkans since the 1990s, and the agency of cultural memory in societies affected by conflict and crisis. Her recent book, Mosque Manifesto, published 2015 by Revolver Publishing, offers a repertoire of ways in which creative forms of Islamic representation may foster better understanding between cultures, and generate a critical response to cultural stereotypes and politics of representation. Akšamija holds master degrees from the Technical University Graz and Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in History of Islamic art and architecture from MIT. Her work has been shown in leading international venues including the Generali Foundation Vienna, Valencia Biennial, Liverpool Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Sculpture Center New York, Secession Vienna, Manifesta 7, the Royal Academy of Arts London, Queens Museum in New York, and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini as a part of the 54th Art Biennale in Venice. She received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2013 for her design of the prayer space in the Islamic Cemetery Altach, Austria. For more information about her work see: www.azraaksamija.net/
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TEAM CREDITS:
The project was conceived by ACT Assistant Professor Azra Aksamija and is co-developed and produced with the help of a diverse range of partners within the MIT community and participants from the Maker Faire in Cairo and Syrian refugee camps in Jordan. For the full list of team members and credits see:
act.mit.edu/projects-and-events/events/public-programs/memory-matrix-project-team/
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FUNDERS AND SUPPORTERS:
Memory Matrix is produced with support from a number of different departments and entities: Office of the Dean from SA+P, Office of the Dean SHASS, ACT Program, Center for International Studies, Arts Initiatives of SA+P, Center for Advanced Urbanism, CAMIT, MIT Libraries, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Global Studies and Languages, Comparative Media Studies / Writing, Literature Section, Office of the Dean for Student Life, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Women's and Gender Studies at MIT and numerous individuals who supported the project through MIT Crowdfunding. Construction sponsorship by: LeMessurier and D.C. Beane and Associates Construction Company. Other forms of support are provided by: Department of Architecture, Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT, MIT Alumni Association and MISTI.