SK3000
collaborative project created with Dahlia Elsayed
A multi-sensory ritual site to quench intellectual and physical thirst, SK3000 reinterprets the iconic Islamic architectural form of a sabil kuttab. Originating in the 1400s, the structure traditionally holds a community fountain at the ground level with a school built on top. The artists reimagine the sabil kuttab’s form and function for the future, in the context of privatization of water sources, democratic access to clean water, and as a learning space that resists education for productivity, profit, or politics. This piece was commissioned by Locust Projects in Miami, FL and exhibited March - May of 2024.
The installation is conceived as an ancestral gift structure for an indeterminate future, as a meeting space to collectively imagine new ways of being. The artwork is 12' high and includes crafted water elements, carpets, cushions, sculptures, and original soundtrack.
A sabil kuttab is a small two-level structure comprised of a community fountain at the ground level with a school built on top. It is a civic and sacred place, usually built at a crossroad in a city center, to provide water for drinking and ablutions to travelers at the ground level as well as a space for spiritual learning above it. Intricately decorated, it is often seen as a site to quench intellectual and physical thirst.
SK3000 reinterprets the traditional architectural form and function for the future, in the context of privatization of water sources, democratic access to clean water and as a learning space that resists education for productivity, profit or politics.
The project is based on community ritual and creates an opportunity for pause, reflection and interaction and to refresh the needs of the body and mind, of both literal and figurative thirsts.
With SK3000 upstairs 'school' we wanted to create an environment where what we learn from touch, sound, and smell is just as important as the alphabet. So, we created these plush rugs on all the walls and the floors with a symbolic system at different pile heights that was like a tactile language. The symbolic communication extended to the graphics and color scheme of the walls – there are no words in this school. There are five 4’ x 6’ hand-tufted rugs in the upstairs that were designed for the space.