The Bank

Overview

Many of the banks originally situated on Bank Street in Sharjah have left for more lucrative locations, so we have imagined a new, non-monetary banking model for the street. What if we were to regard the sum total of memories and stories of the people in this area as the real capital of the street? And what if this new currency could be invested in the new Bank Street and converted into physical objects?

The result might be a credit-default swap in the form of a rusty metal dinosaur from a Portuguese suburb. Or a cash point that dispenses a ceramic pot of drinking water from a neighborhood in Islamabad. The Bank is an urban currency converter of such personal memories and stories, bringing great profit to Bank Street.

To create The Bank, we asked people who live or work near the street to nominate specific objects found in the urban areas from which they come (or to which they have traveled) – benches, bins, playground toys or signage – that evoke a certain time and place for them. These objects were then reproduced or bought and transported to the public space of The Bank.


2013

This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 11

In collaboration with Schul Landscape Architects, Copenhagen
Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation