Lest We Forget: Structures of Memory in the UAE

Curated by Dr. Michele Bambling for Biennale Architettura 2014, Lest We Forget: Structures of Memory in the UAE was the first year of participation for the National Pavilion of the UAE in the Architecture editions of La Biennale. Dr. Bambling assembled a research team including Adina Hempel, Assistant Professor at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at the Zayed University, Marco Sosa, Assistant Professor of Interior Design at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, and Hanan Sayed Worrell, Senior Client Representative for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in Abu Dhabi. The exhibition presented the seminal findings of a larger initiative to archive the history of architectural and urban development in the UAE over the past century.

With concentrated emphasis on the 1970s-1980s, the exhibition examined how public and residential architecture, built within a rapidly expanding urban context, shaped the newly established federation and prepared the foundation for its emergence on a global stage. Lest We Forget evolved into a standalone entity that promotes a deep understanding of Emirati culture by collecting the personal memories of those with their own knowledge and experience of the culture and heritage of the UAE, and then inviting younger generations to creatively engage with the memories of their elders through the medium of contemporary art.

The accompanying publication presented seminal findings of the Lest We Forget exhibition to archive the history of architectural and urban development in the UAE over the past century.

The 14th International Architecture Exhibition, titled Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014, curated by Rem Koolhaas was open to the public from 7 June – 23 November 2014.