FEBRIK Participatory art and design
Febrik is an art collective comprising architect Reem Charif and artist Mohamad Hafeda, working in collaboration with NGOs, cultural institutions and creative networks to investigate the dynamics of public spaces in relation to social and urban change. The collective primarily explores negotiations of rights within refuge spaces of underrepresented groups, such as women and children. Through this, Charif and Hafeda’s projects encourage community participation and develop propositional thinking with regards to social environments.
Working mainly with Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East and in housing estates in London, Febrik has explored multi-functional public spaces as ‘social playgrounds’ that enable spatial and temporal negotiations between different ages, social hierarchies and gender. The projects were implemented through participatory workshops, art installations, temporary and permanent architectural structures, events, public actions, animations, exhibitions and publications.
Febrik’s first project was Dream Project (2003–4) followed by Play Space (2005), both implemented in Burj El Barajne Palestinian Refugee Camp in Beirut, Lebanon. The experience in the camp led the UNRWA to invite Febrik to contribute to the design development of Nahr El Barid camp in North Lebanon, and later on Talbiyeh camp in Amman. The project in Amman, Edge of Play, became the first designated space for women and children in a refugee camp. In 2012, South London Gallery invited Febrik to present their first institutional solo exhibition, Play, I Follow You, which showcased Febrik’s outreach residency, in a shop unit on the Sceaux Gardens estate in South London, entitled Shop of Possibilities, alongside their aforementioned projects in the Middle East. In 2015–16, the collective was commissioned by The Serpentine Galleries to create an outreach project with young people in North London to explore the experiences of youth in public spaces, using film and filming as public actions.
Febrik have also collaborated with NGOs, such as Beit Atfal Assoumod in Lebanon, Victoria and Albert Museum, Mosaic Rooms, Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and Lebanese American University. Their publications include Creative Refuge (Tadween Publishing, 2014) and Action of Street/Action of Room (Serpentine Galleries, 2016).
For more information about Febrik please visit www.febrik.org.