Ark Re-Imagined 

The visual identity for the first Iraqi pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale.

Artist: Rashad Salim

The project returns to the very beginning of Iraq’s architectural legacy: the vernacular architecture and watercraft of ancient Mesopotamia, exemplifying a seminal ‘alphabet of making’ that set the stage for civilisation to emerge. The expeditionary pavilion engaged dynamically with its setting, exploring links between Venice’s wetland environment and that of southern Iraq. The exhibition investigated boats, from prehistoric origins to the apex of design as manifest in the Venetian gondola and bucintoro tradition, and the disappearing heritage of the boats of Basra’s canals and surrounding marshes.