"kabul matters" is an art-project directed by luis berrios-negron, (#3151) a puertorican artist and conceptual architect, living in berlin. the artwork was commissioned by rahraw omarzad; director and founder of the „centre for contemporary art afghanistan“ and was executed during the time of the berlin biennale 2006.

"the motivation behind this art-project was to inspire a sense of hope in the people of kabul. it was for this reason a green theme was established, symbolizing rebirth in the afghani culture". - luis

kabul is a city of overwhelming disarray; with no solid infrastructure, no garbage disposable system, frequent power failures, and extremely limited access to water resources. kabul is a city that for centuries has seen social, economic, and political instability, not only in the recent past with the control of the taliban regime.

„it is a real challenge to be a woman in kabul these days. woman have no access to education, as a matter of fact girl schools are still being burnt down, like recently in helmand- south of afghanistan- one of the last strongholds of the talibans“. - luis

as a woman, the streets of kabul used to be very dangerous:
“before, during the taliban rule, if you had shown even just a glimpse of your ankles or you walked the streets without company, you may have incurred the risk of getting stoned to death“. - luis

the project itself consisted of a performance involving several people carrying a gigantic green cloth up a hill where a large billboard was displayed.
the green-drapery was than ufolded over the massive billboard, which during the soviet union regime displayed strict, political slogans. - pictures -

bibi mahro, the hill, rises from the middle of the city. on its very top we would find the remains of a remarkable soviet olympic sized pool

"this served as a tool for promoting a sense of community, providing a platform whereto combine their ideal of athletics with their political ideology – in other words: propaganda". - luis

during the taliban regime the hill was used for its strategic position as a military stronghold. In fact one may still observe (as shown on the google earth map), the remains of an exploded tank on the right of the pool.

„some people said, the pool itself used to be the taliband´s favorite place for executing prisoners and dissenters“. - luis

initially, the performance was supposed to be carried out by only a group of painting students but a random and curious crowd, mostly composed of children, joined forces in this symbolic gesture, giving it an edge of solemn ritualism. as a result, the performance turned out to be an authentic experience; not only a staged ceremony.

as a sign of gratitude, luis gave a workshop for the students of the institut, introducing them to the berlin biennale. this was running at the same time of the project.

*we would like to thank the photographer massoud hosseini for the very touching pictures documenting "kabul matters".

most of luis berrios artworks seem to be defined by a need for denouncing extreme social conditions.
however, his main preoccupation does not appear to be one driven by sterile criticisms. more accurately is seems to be paving the way for solutions. the striking factors, when faced with his work include the interaction of contrasts, subtle sarcasm and a passion for provocation. these are all ingredients that make him a remarkable artist fighting for reconnecting “loose ends“, where individuals or whole communities are living in fear, lacking a sense of hope or blinded by consumerism.

this was the case for “tzunami safe(r)“, a housing project for tzunami stricken communities in sri-lanka. the project was conceived through carlo ratti and the prajnopaya foundation as a psychological tool meant to give a renewed sense of optimism to people struck by this sort of catastrophy -- a move to ease them from their constant fear.

the government of sri-lanka had infact already planned to move an entire sea side community approximately 2km inland. this was something unthinkable for people whose main sustainability was based on the ocean.

another example of his guerrilla-style, sarcastic exhibitions infiltrating the strongholds of corporate establishment was the project "people's republic of z pod", which runned under the tutelage of lot-ek, an innovative and very succesful architect duo in ny. in this case, luis wanted to create a transitional object symbolizing the condition of consumerism and how it affects social disparity.

“z pod“ is infact a housing system made out of cut-out, collaged billboards which would provide housing for young aspiring models and exploited sweatshop workers in new york.

„the reality of sweatshop workers is still very real in new york as in many other countries around the world“. - luis

the project was presented for two hours at the diesel-denim gallery in soho – where a pair of jeans can easily cost $200–500! the humor was seen in the missunderstanding of those operating the gallery, as they did not realize exactly what the performance was about right up untill the final point. this project fundametally criticised their entire industry and blantely made fun of them.

a video documenting this project was recently shown at the filter gallery in hamburg, with certainly far less complications.


*we would like to thank luis berrios-negron for allowing us to showcase his work and for the very interesting and inspiring chats we had here in Platoon.