The Egyptian protests and ‘Decolonizing Architecture’

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Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which has been filled with protesters and as of Wednesday with violent clashes, is not to be confused with the West Bank, or the frustrations of Egyptians with those of Palestinians. But it does seem almost impossible not to think about reevaluating an exhibition now at REDCAT, “Decolonizing Architecture,” in light of the events in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and elsewhere.

So how does the show look in the shadow of those uprisings? Both more and less relevant, as I argue in this Critic’s Notebook, than it did when it first opened.

The exhibition, which runs through Sunday at REDCAT’s gallery inside Walt Disney Concert Hall, also coincides with the announcement that the curator who organized its run here, Clara Kim, will be leaving Los Angeles for a job at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

-- Christopher Hawthorne

Photomontage: “Return to Nature, The Transformation of the Military Base of Oush Grab (The Crow’s Nest),” by Sara Pellegrini. Courtesy Decolonizing Architecture/Art Residency and REDCAT