DAAR-Decolonizing Architecture-Art Research-Sandi Hilal & Alessandro Petti

DAAR-Decolonising Architecture Art Research (established in 2007 by Sandi Hilal, 1973, Beit Sahour, Palestine, and Alessandro Petti, 1973, Pescara, Italy. They both live and work in Stockholm, Sweden) is working at the Museo delle Civiltà on the project Decolonisation Body – Borgo Rizza (2022), which explores the possibilities of critical re-appropriation and re-use of colonial architecture from the fascist era through the creation of art installations and the organisation of decolonial assemblies. An example of this is taking place at the museum, an initiative which also aims to develop a project for the re-curation of its collections. This project focuses on the actual architecture of the Museo delle Civiltà, originally designed for the Universal Exhibition of Rome (E.U.R.) in 1942, which was planned but never inaugurated.

The practice of the DAAR collective, situated somewhere between architecture, art, pedagogy and politics, has, over the last two decades, developed a series of research projects that are both theoretical and practical. In this context, exhibitions serve not only as places and moments of display but also as actions which expand into other contexts: constructed architectural structures, the formation of critical learning environments, interventions that deconstruct dominant collective narratives, the production of new civic imaginaries, and the redefinition of related concepts. The practice and research of DAAR has been recognised, receiving numerous prizes and awards, including: The Golden Lion at the 18th. Mostra Internazionale di Architettura-La Biennale di Venezia, the Prince Pierre Foundation award for artistic research, the Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College, the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University, and the Price Claus Foundation award for Architecture. Hilal is currently an Invited Professor at the University of Lund, while Petti is Professor of Architecture and Social Justice at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.