Library Circles: Samar Halloum

A workshop led by Palestinian architect and educator Samar Halloum as part of the public programmes for Jameel Library Circles. Halloum will present research developed through her fieldwork and interviews in Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Palestine, some of which is currently on display in the Library (to 30 June); it examines how displaced communities influence the built environment over time through oral history, communal practices and spatial adaptations to trace the continuity of the Musha’ system from Palestinian highland villages into refugee camps.

The workshop invites participants to engage in the active process of observing, analysing, inquiring and interpreting the documentation from this research; through writing exercises and open discussion, the session encourages reflection on non-singular authorship and personal and collective meaning created in the reading of spaces, images and research.

Samar Halloum is an Assistant Professor at the American University of Sharjah. She previously served as the Design and Research Lead for the National Pavilion UAE at the 18th Venice Biennale Architettura.