Shams El-Mutwalli Dubai

A new installation set up at The National Art Center, designed by architectural studio Pan Projects, is made using discarded flyers to reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic available to view until Dec. 20.

The piece titled ‘The Matter of Facts’ is a 10sqm structure engineered by Yohei Tomioka and Takayuki Fujimoto.

“The printed matter is related to the cancellation and postponement of events and other activities due to the coronavirus crisis.” The work consists of a large quantity of accumulated printed matter that “serves both as a means of communicating facts and preserving traces. It was intended to confirm the urban memory of the coronavirus crisis while urging viewers to re-examine their present place,” the official NACT website states.

NACT also outlines how this piece successfully sheds light on the anxiety that the pandemic instigated as the unstable situation “has given rise to a variety of phenomena that disparage science, and a whirlpool of constantly updated, dubious information, poses a threat to our lives.”

Pan Projects is a firm co-founded by architectural duo Yuriko Yagi and Kazumasa Takada.

Pan Projects also held an online workshop hosted by NACT enabling participants to join in on a conversation with the co-founders and reflect on topics like human activities among various others.

This piece hangs over the reception area at the art centre and is free to view.