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Two Bahraini friends parked themselves in a roadside bay to raise awareness about the need for more open spaces in built-up areas on the island.
Architect Sara Kanoo, 26, and Ahmed Taleb, 32, who works in the property development sector, teamed up to take part in an annual global event known as PARK(ing) Day which calls on supporters to highlight the issue.
The project, which is marked on the third Friday in September, involves citizens, artists and activists collaborating to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public places or miniature parks.
It began in 2005 in the US when Rebar, an art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco.
Since then it has evolved into a global movement with organisations and individuals creating new forms of temporary public spaces in urban contexts around the world.
Sara, from Sehla, and Ahmed, from Isa Town, are the first from Bahrain to join the movement, turning parking spaces in two of the busiest locations in the kingdom into miniature parks which captivated and perplexed people passing by.
Ahmed said: “Each group in each city sets up something different, signing up online and becoming part of a worldwide network. There is even a map of all the parking places around the world. We realised that there was no one in the Gulf involved so stepped in to help.”
While employees rushed to find parking in the Diplomatic Area on Thursday morning, there was one less parking spot to fight over.
The creative duo converted a one metre parking place located right across from Chilli’s restaurant into a Bahraini-style setting with wooden benches and coffee tables, offering magazines, papers and beverages for people to enjoy. Two officers from the Ministry of Interior even stood by to make sure that Sara and Ahmed’s day went smoothly.
The pair started setting up at 6am and stayed there in the scorching heat until noon. According to Sara, some people would walk by with quizzical looks on their faces while others would approach them and ask the same question over and over again which was ‘why are you doing this’?
Sara said: “Many people we talked to were happy with the concept and what we wanted to highlight.
“We hope to change the way people react to public spaces and to change the whole way of looking at spaces or using spaces.”
Chilli’s employee, Andrew Austria, 30, from Gudaibiya, said: “We need more greenery. In Gudaibiya for example they keep cutting down the trees. I used to listen to the birds and breathe in the fresh air.”
Fatima Al Halawachi, 27, a lawyer, from Manama, said: “The park they created captured my attention. I agree, we do need more open spaces in Bahrain.”
On Friday afternoon, the park campaigners took over another spot in Muharraq souq where they had plenty of positive reactions and people joining in the fun.
Ahmed said: “We were very pleased that many people actually used our temporary parks and spent time enjoying the public domain despite being in a car-oriented city.”
This initiative is the first of many that Sara and Ahmed will be running as part of their Bahrain-based non-profit organisation Khosh Hosh.
Khosh Hosh is an independent urban think-tank and research centre aspiring to initiate a productive dialogue on the quality of life in Bahrain through research, public engagement, interventions and innovative thinking. Sara said: “The name is taken from a local tongue twister. Khosh means excellence or great and hosh means an open courtyard or an open interior space. We are calling for excellence in urban and architectural fields.”
Ahmed and Sara thanked Coca Cola bottling company for supplying them with boxes of water to hand out. They were also supported by the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Works and sponsored by Manama Realty.
For further details, email info@khosh-hosh.com or follow them on Twitter and instagram @koshhosh
