Material Liberatory | Areej Ashhab

Palestinian material knowledge is rapidly disappearing. With Material Liberatory, Areej Ashhab aims to preserve this knowledge and make it accessible. She is doing so in collaboration with RIWAQ Centre for Architectural Conservation in Palestine. They are creating a dynamic archive, combining library, laboratory and teaching spaces in multiple locations. The aim is to enable knowledge-sharing, collaboration and ecological recovery relating to materials, and to strengthen the dialogue between Palestinian and Dutch design knowledge. Through fieldwork, workshops and round-table discussions with artisans, heritage experts and designers in Palestine and the Netherlands, different working methods are explored. The first result is a design for a prototype of the Material Liberatory, an educational programme focused on material knowledge, an archive of samples and a detailed plan for phase two.