Wheatpasting AAU

by AAU Anastas

AAU Anastas transforms the Magazin exhibition space through wheatpasting, covering its walls, floors and ceilings with fifteen years of work, research, collaborations and encounters across architecture, design, music, cultural production and collective experimentation.

Using the simple and direct technique of wheatpasting, photographs, drawings, architectural documents, fragments of texts, posters, research and other traces accumulated over time are pasted directly onto the surfaces of the exhibition space. Materials from different moments, places and contexts overlap, creating unexpected relationships and associations. Sound adds another layer to this accumulation, bringing together music, broadcasts, field recordings and commissioned works emerging from years of exchanges with artists, musicians and cultural practitioners.

Throughout its duration, the exhibition is activated through performances, listening sessions and interventions by collaborators and invited artists. These contributions introduce new materials, sounds and encounters, allowing the space to evolve over time.

The accumulation of these different materials, practices and interventions creates the conditions for new relationships to emerge. As the exhibition unfolds, its content and meaning remain open to the encounters, contributions and associations that take place within it.

Elias and Yousef Anastas are partners at AAU Anastas and co-founders of Local Industries, Radio AlHara, and Wonder Cabinet. Their work—at the intersection of architecture, design, and cultural production—is rooted in the idea of global provincialism: a dialogue between hyper-specific contexts and broader networks of knowledge, craftsmanship, and solidarity. Through AAU Anastas, they explore the potential of architecture when grounded in material intelligence, ranging from object design to territorial projects. They have a particular interest in stone construction, seeking to renew its use to imagine low-carbon structures, more resilient cities, and more responsible quarrying practices.

With Local Industries, they collaborate with artisans to bridge traditional craftsmanship with contemporary production, affirming the importance of craft in today’s design landscape. In 2020, they co-founded Radio AlHara, an online radio station that goes beyond simple sound broadcasting to create unexpected networks of solidarity—blending resistance, sharing, and experimentation. More recently, they launched Wonder Cabinet, a space dedicated to cultural production in Bethlehem. Conceived as a place for encounters and exchange, it brings together artists, designers, and artisans in collaborations that blend technique and creativity.