Artists Space

Kursaal For An Evacuee

February 5 – March 14, 1987

An Architectural Project by Hani Rashid
Organized by Elizabeth Diller

Hani Rashid's Kursaal For An Evacuee, organized by Elizabeth Diller, is the first in a series of two architectural projects scheduled to take place for 1986-1987 season. Rashid will construct a kursaal or a habitat for the universal evacuee. The concept for the work was inspired by a newspaper report about a man living in the Mid-West under a bridge, who built himself a shelter out of the junk of his environment and who was then forced to leave. Rashid's Kursaal is a political critique of those governments who determine how and where people live. In this way, Rashid exposes the invisibility of an entire population forced to the fringe, a cargo culture which exists as 'other'.

Drawing of a curving tower with accentuated imagery spilling into the white surrounding areas.
Hani Rashid, Certain First Principles, 1985. Mixed media with ink, old paint, acids, chalks, 33 x 24 inches. [Drawing of a curving tower with accentuated imagery spilling into the white surrounding areas.]

Hani Rashid has worked closely with his former teacher, architect Daniel Libeskind. Together they designed "XVII Il Progetto Domestico," a collaborative project for the Triennale di Milano. Rashid has shown his work at the Venice Biennale, Italy; The Cranbrook Museum, Bloomington Hills, Michigan; and Gallery Rivoli, Toronto, Canada. He is currently teaching at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Rashid's project was chosen by Elizabeth Diller, who is an architect/sculptor presently working on a theatrical set based on Marcel Duchamp's Large Glass. She is also an assistant professor at the Erwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at Cooper Union, New York.

Drawing of upside down Christian iconography along with pyramid, desert landscape with white surrouding the images.
Hani Rashid, The Early 17th Century, 1985. Mixed media with ink, old paints, acids, chalks, 33 x 24 inches. [Drawing of upside down Christian iconography along with pyramid, desert landscape with white surrouding the images.]

Kursaal For An Evacuee Catalogue Cover

Kursaal For An Evacuee Proposal Photos

Kursaal For An Evacuee Press Release

Kursaal For An Evacuee Announcement, Back

Kursaal For An Evacuee Announcement, Front

Architectural projects at Artists Space have been made possible by a partial grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Artists Space activities are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; New York State Council on the Arts; Institute of Museum Services; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Art Matters, Inc., Cowles Family Charitable Trust, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., Jerome Foundation, Leonhardt Foundation, Betty Parsons Foundation, The Reed Foundation, Inc., Mark Rothko Foundation; the American Express Company, Consolidated Edison, Equitable Real Estate Group, Inc., EXXON, R.H. Macy Company, Mobil Foundation, Inc., Morgan Guaranty Trust of New York and Philip Morris, as well as numerous Friends.

    Drawing with various stools and faces in the center rectangle with lines emerging under it stretching towards the bottom.
    Hani Rashid, Corset Shop in Paris, 1985. Mixed media with ink, old paints, acids, chalks, 33 x 24 inches. [Drawing with various stools and faces in the center rectangle with lines emerging under it stretching towards the bottom.]