PROJECT SUMMARY:

Artist David Cotterell's Kabul, Afghanistan residency took place from 16 April to 11 May 2008. He partnered with Turquoise Mountain, an organisation seeking to provide jobs, skills, and a renewed sense of national pride to Afghan men and women and promote Afghan handicrafts.

MORE ON THE PROJECT:

David Cotterrell was provided with a unique opportunity to spend time working in the city of Kabul and over the period of the residency will gain valuable insights into environmental and related social aspects of Afghan life.

On Tuesday 10 June, David spoke at the RSA alongside writer Andrew O'Hagan at Culture in a time of Conflict - a lecture as part of RSA Arts and Ecology Exchanges.

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David Cotterrell works across varied mediums including video, audio, interactive media, artificial intelligence, device control, and hybrid technology.

His work exhibits political, social, and behavioural analyses of the environments and contexts, and has been extensively commissioned and exhibited in North America, Europe and the Far East, in gallery spaces, museums and in the public realm.

David recently worked in Shanghai, China on research into the impact of population expansion with the support of an Arts Council England and British Council award. He is a CABE appointed lead artist consultant to Richard Rogers Partnership masterplans in Cambridge and Chelmsford. He is investigating immersive environments through an Arts Council England Interact fellowship.

AFGANISTAN IN ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT (from CIA World Factbook):
•    Geographic coordinates - 33 00 N, 65 00 E
•    Climate - arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
•    Terrain – mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
•    Natural Resources - natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
•    Land Use - arable land: 12.13%, permanent crops: 0.21% , other: 87.66% (2005)
•    Natural hazards - damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
•    Current Issues - limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution