A Living Part of This World is a documentation of everyday life in the Al Azraq refugee camp in Jordan through the lens of fascinating creations designed by Syrian refugees. The ingenuity and resourcefulness of AlAzraq's creations reveal the cultural, emotional, and architectural needs of refugees in a context of scarcity, war trauma, and struggle for a future. The photo series documents a wide range of artworks, design inventions, and shelter modifications; images were taken by the Al Azraq Journal team in collaboration with the Future Heritage Lab. The photographs are accompanied by stories written by a group of 20 young writers from the camp. Both the photographs and the stories were created through educational workshops organized by the Future Heritage Lab (FHL) in Al Azraq camp, introducing skills of photography, creative writing, and critical exchange. This work was exhibited at Amman Design Week 2017. The photographs and stories are part of a book titled Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp. The content references the work of the Arab scholar Al-Jazari (1136-1206), who wrote one of the most important 12th-century treatises on mechanical engineering and automata in the Islamic tradition. The book celebrates the ongoing forms of innovation of Arab communities and highlights the role of art, architecture, and design as antidotes to war and destruction. Refugee Inventions demonstrates how art, architecture, and design inspire hope and support innovation in a humanitarian context. The book proposes a methodology for a culturally sensitive approach to humanitarian architecture, informed by the resilience and creativity of displaced communities. The book aims to inform the skills of humanitarian design today and offer new modes of cultural preservation in the midst of conflict and crisis.
Concept and artistic direction: Azra Akšamija
Research andevelopment: Azra Akšamija, Melina Philippou, Omar Al-Darwish, Zeid Madi, Nabil Sayfayn
Production / Photos: Zeid Madi, Nabil Sayfayn (FHL), Hussain Al-Abdullah, Yassin Al-Yassin, Mohammad Al-Qo’airy,
Mohammad Al-Mez’al (Al Azraq Journal Team members)
Production / Stories: Hana’a Ahmed, Kifah Akeel, Hussein Al-Abdallah, Hasan Al-Abdallah, Hatem Al-Balkhy, Wa’el Al-Faraj, Nagham Alsalha, Heba Caleh, Mohammed Al-Hamedy, Ahma Al-Hassan, Jar Al-Naby Abazaid, Yassin Al-Yassin, Mustafa Hamadah, Jameel Homede, Abdulkarim Ihsan, Ahmad Khalaf, Rawan Maher, Mohammed Mizail, Jameel Mousli, Mohammed Shaban (authors from Al Azraq Camp, ages 14–25)
Production / Editors: Azra Akšamija, Omar Al-Darwish, Zeid Madi, Melina Philippou (FHL), Muteeb Awad Al Hamdan (Al Azraq Camp), Mohammad Yaghan (Advisor in Amman, German-Jordanian University)
Photographs, poem
Future Heritage Lab in collaboration with residents of the Al Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan
Project produced for the Amman Design Week 2017.
Materials: photography, paper, text
Dimensions: variable