AD—WO

The Amharic word ‘Ghebbi’ connotes a territory surrounded by a wall or fence; a zone of respite and relative stability carved out of an errant and restless city. Slight shifts in enunciation of the word ‘Ghebbi’ produce different meanings: it could mean “come in”, “the one that infiltrates”, or “income”.
Ghebbis contain houses, schools, gardens, spaces of worship and commerce. The boundary of the Ghebbi has literal and metaphorical depth. It is not a line on a map, but a zone of contestation pushed and pulled by shifts in politics, culture and economy.
This installation grapples with these instabilities in meaning and effect. Two corrugated panels, are suspended from the rafters, thickening the threshold between two zones of the Arsenale. An immersive space, akin to the lush interiors of the Ghebbi, is recreated by two monumental tapestries suspended on either side of the existing arched opening.

Authorial collaborators
Tsion Haleselassie (Photographer)
Team
AD—WO: Gene Han, Yasmine El Alaoui El Abdallaoui, Katie Solien
The Urban Center: Maheder Gebremedhin, (Director), Betelehem Demissie (Head of Research and Programs)
With the additional support of
Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York