Archaeology of the Present: Memory, Media, Matter

Forensic Architecture (FA) presents a show developed specially for Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Three FA works are exhibited, which exemplify the methodologies of the collective, and each exemplify one of three organising concepts: ‘memory’, ‘media’, ‘matter’.

The first, ‘memory’, examines a US drone strike in October 2010 in Mir Ali, Pakistan.

Under the term ‘media’, FA has collected photographs, satellite images, media reports and amateur films in order to reconstruct the event of a March 2017 US airstrike, which targeted the al-Jinah Mosque in Syria.

Under the title ‘matter’ is an ongoing project which documents Bedouin inhabitation in the Negev/Naqab desert, reconciling historical aerial photographs with recent innovations in photogrammetry and aerial imaging. By juxtaposing these images, FA shows that, contrary to official Israeli statements, the desert was inhabited by Bedouins well before the state of Israel was established in 1948.

The exhibition project is supported by GLS Treuhand eV and the Fränkel Foundation.