From 10 October 2024, the TUM Architecture Museum of the Pinakothek der Moderne will be showing the exhibition ‘Visual Investigations’ on the subject of human rights violations and the uncovering of violence and injustice through image-based investigative procedures.
Image above: © SITU Research, 2023
SITU Research produced a series of video analyses and maps for the class action lawsuit Sow, et al. v. City of New York, et al. documenting the misconduct of the New York Police Department (NYPD) during various protests of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. The violations of a variety of constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, press and assembly were captured on video; mobile phone footage of demonstrators, body cameras of police officers, aerial surveillance images and CCTV footage served as the basis for the research.
Human rights violations are more present in the public discourse of democratic states than ever before. This is not least due to the ubiquitous availability of image sources: Smartphones, satellites, surveillance and police cameras produce gigantic amounts of data material that captures violent and repressive incidents as well as ongoing violations of the law. When processing and contextualising such data streams, newsrooms, public prosecutors and human rights organisations are increasingly challenged to use them effectively in reporting and legal proceedings.
Visual investigations – image-based investigative procedures – have established themselves as a new discipline for the comprehensive presentation and analysis of controversial issues. This involves linking video and image content with people, places and events. Architects work with interdisciplinary teams of filmmakers, computer scientists and other experts to categorise crimes in terms of time and space. The aim is always to present facts and contexts objectively, transparently and as independently as possible. In view of the global competition for the right to interpret politically controversial events and the increasing threat to finding the truth and clarification through targeted misinformation, visual investigations are currently developing at a rapid pace.
the Pinakothek der Moderne presents the field of visual investigations using seven case studies from five continents. They show the role that architecture plays in the structure of activism, media and law in order to stand up for justice and accountability. Four research teams present their methods and content, as well as results and conclusions, in various formats. These range from maps and films to models and interactive platforms. The presentations of the individual case studies, which are presented spatially and thematically as self-contained units, are embedded in a methodological framework that sheds light on the researchers’ tools and their development history.
In a world in which political and military conflicts as well as the consequences of climate change are forcing more and more people to flee and protest, it seems only logical that architecture should also increasingly contribute to the elucidation of violence and injustice.
The Architekturmuseum der TUM would like to thank its co-operation partners and is pleased to present the following studies to its visitors:
Police violence during protests in the USA
SITU Research in collaboration with Human Rights Watch and the BLM/Floyd Litigation Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild,
2020 and 2022-2023
During the months of protest marches that followed the killing of African American George Floyd by police officers on 25 May 2020, New York police repeatedly attacked protesters, uninvolved citizens and legal observers. The installation features two investigations that emerged in response to this period of civil unrest and that led to illegal police tactics being uncovered and affected citizens being compensated.
Remote sensing and land confiscation in the West Bank
SITU Research in collaboration with Yesh Din, Bimkom – Planning and Human Rights, Michael Sfard, Adam Maloof and Ryan Manzuk,
2023 – ongoing.
The ongoing research, which the project team is presenting to the public for the first time as part of the exhibition, aims to document and analyse changes in land ownership and land use in the West Bank. As the prevailing Israeli-Palestinian conflict there is a territorial one, the investigators are examining whether the systematic discrimination also has a spatial dimension and whether geospatial remote sensing tools reveal patterns of land dispossession in the West Bank.
The sound of bullets: Investigating the murder of Colombian journalist Abelardo Liz
Bellingcat in collaboration with Cerosetenta,
2023
An immersive audio installation, developed especially for the exhibition at the TUM Architecture Museum, recapitulates the death of Colombian journalist Abelardo Liz, who was shot dead on 13 August 2020 during a demonstration for land rights on a hacienda in south-west Bogotá. The aim of the installation is to share details of the sound analysis in the hope of empowering researchers, human rights activists, journalists and others to carry out this work independently.
Investigating the network of internment camps in Xinjiang
Alison Killing, Megha Rajagopalan and Christo Buschek for BuzzFeed News, 2018-2020
More than one million Muslims are believed to have been detained in a secret network of internment camps and prisons in Xinjiang, China, since 2016. At the beginning of the investigation in 2018, little was known about the network and the places to which people were deported. In a film that will be shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023, the team presents their research in eight chapters that chronologically present their approach and conclusions.
A city inside a building: The Russian air raid on the Mariupol theatre
The Centre for Spatial Technologies in collaboration with Forensic Architecture and Forensis,
2022 – ongoing
The project investigates the bombing of the Mariupol theatre on 16 March 2022 and brings together the voices of those citizens who were housed in the theatre, survived the missile attack and now live in the diaspora in a digital reconstruction project. The resulting model is a rich collection of collective and individual memories. Five of the ten detailed interviews with witnesses are shown in the exhibition and their contribution to the 3D model is analysed.
Documentation of the death flights
SITU Research in collaboration with Centro Prodh and Alicia de los Ríos Merino,
2023-2024
Together with the Mexican human rights organisation Centro Prodh, SITU Research analyses one of Mexico’s most secretive state programmes for enforced disappearances during the so-called ‘Dirty War’ of the late 1960s to early 1980s. The installation shows a 14-minute compilation of visual evidence of the ‘death flights’ and other media objects that explore the relationship between collective memory, spatial reconstructions and the search for evidence in historical records.
What do we owe? The Climate Crisis before the International Court of Justice
SITU Research in cooperation with the Global Human Rights Clinic of the University of Chicago, Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, World’s Youth for Climate Justice and Suneil Sanzgiri, 2023 – ongoing
The climate crisis primarily affects those who have contributed the least to climate change. While scientists, lawyers and heads of state debate the extent of the crisis and ways to mitigate it, coalitions of young people have come together to take action on their own to save their homelands from destruction. As part of the activist-led efforts calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on sanctions for the biggest climate offenders, the exhibition presents a film installation showcasing the lived experiences of the communities of South Pacific island nations living on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Curators: Lisa Luksch, Andres Lepik
Exhibition design: CPWH, Munich
Graphic design: PARAT.cc, Munich
The exhibition was generously supported by PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne and the Freundeskreis Architekturmuseum TUM.
PUBLICATION
The exhibition is accompanied by a book in German and English:
Visual Investigations. Between Activism, Media and Law. A reader, edited by Lisa Luksch and Andres Lepik, with contributions by Bellingcat, Ralf Breker (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt), The Center for Spatial Technologies (CST), Sam Dubberley (Human Rights Watch), Bora Erden (New York Times), Sam Gregory (Witness), Alison Killing (Killing Architects), Laura Kurgan (Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, GSAPP), Andres Lepik (TUM Technical University Munich), Lisa Luksch (TUM Technical University Munich), Anjli Parrin (University of Chicago Law School), SITU Research, Patrick Brian Smith (Counter Evidentiary Network) and Lea Weinmann (Süddeutsche Zeitung); DE ISBN 978-3-9817790-3-5, EN ISBN 978-3-9817790-4-2.
TU, 8 October 2024 | 7 pm | Discussion round at the exhibition opening (EN)
On Tuesday, 8 October 2024, at 7 pm, we will be holding a public discussion with participants in the exhibition at the Oskar von Miller Forum, Oskar-von-Miller-Ring 25, 80333 Munich.
What role does architecture play between activism, media and law in exposing and visualising human rights violations? The discussion between Sam Dubberley (Human Rights Watch), Lea Weinmann (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and Anjli Parrin (Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School) will be moderated by architect Brad Samuels (SITU Research, New York City).
WEDNESDAY, 9 OCTOBER 2024 | 7 pm | Exhibition opening
On Wednesday, 9 October 2024, at 7 pm, we cordially invite you to the exhibition opening at the TUM Architecture Museum in the Pinakothek der Moderne, Barer Str. 40, 80333 Munich.
The opening will be addressed by Prof. Dr Juliane Winkelmann (Executive Vice President for International Alliances and Alumni, TUM), Prof. Dr Andres Lepik (Director of the TUM Architecture Museum), Brad Samuels (Director of SITU Research, New York City), Lisa Luksch (curator of the exhibition) and Sam Dubberley (Director of Technology, Rights and Investigations at Human Rights Watch).
WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2024 | 6:00 PM | Roundtable (EN): Ethical Challenges and Collaborative Futures in Digital Investigations
On Wednesday, 27 November 2024, at 6 pm, we invite you to an exchange with members of the Counter Evidentiary Network (CEN) at Pavillon 333, Türkenstr. 15, 80333 Munich.
The Counter Evidentiary Network (CEN), a new research initiative in the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology at the University of Salford, aims to promote dialogue, critical reflection and knowledge exchange between various practice- and research-oriented open source investigation groups and individuals involved in exposing human rights violations and other forms of corporate and political violence.
Speakers include: Patrick Brian Smith (Founder of CEN, University of Salford), Hadi Al Khatib (Mnemonic), Adebayo Okeowo (WITNESS), Nishat Awan (University College London), Ekin Urgen (Human Rights Watch), Başak Ertür (Goldsmiths) and Andrew Williams (University of Warwick).
WHEN?
Opening speech, Oskar von Miller Forum:
Tuesday, 8 October 2024, at 7 pm
Oskar-von-Miller-Ring 25
80333 Monaco
Opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne:
Wednesday, 9 October 2024, at 7 p.m.
Barer Str. 40
80333 Munich
Round table: Ethical challenges and the collaborative future of digital investigations
Wednesday, 27 November 2024, at 18:00
Pavilion 333
Türkenstr. 15
80333 Munich
Public guided tours:
‘An hour with… curator Lisa Luksch’ on Thursday, 24 October 2024, Monday, 21 November 2024 and Thursday, 12 December 2024, 6.30 – 7.30 p.m.
Guided tours of the exhibition: on Friday, 18 October 2024 and Friday, 13 December 2024, 4 – 5 p.m. and on Saturday, 26 October 2024 and Wednesday, 23 November 2024, 3 – 4 p.m.
Guided tours of the exhibition in English: on Sunday, 20 October 2024 and Tuesday, 10 November 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.
Exhibition dates: Thursday, 10 October 2024 until Sunday 9 February 2025
WHERE?
Das Architekturmuseum der TUM der Pinakothek der Moderne
Pinakothek der Moderne
Barer Str. 40
80333 München
