Ghanaian-Scottish architect is first African to curate the Venice Biennale
Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko has successfully curated this year’s Biennale in Venice, Italy. She becomes the first African to do so.
The fiction writer and academic is using her curation to give a platform to voices that have long been silenced.
This year’s architectural Biennale, the18th is titled “The Laboratory of the Future,” and explores decolonisation and decarbonisation.
First images of Tropical Modernism: Architecture & Power in West Africa, the @V_and_A / @la_Biennale Special Project for this year’s Venice Biennale, in collaboration with @AASchool and @KNUSTGH, which I co-curated with @BiamahOfosu and @Bushra_m22 pic.twitter.com/kvV6YdhfrK
— Christopher Turner (@TurnerOnDesign) May 17, 2023
The exhibition is heavily featuring works by Africans and the African diaspora, something Lokko said is very significant.
South African Pavilion at the Venice. Biennale now officially open. 🇿🇦 x 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/keE3tCgeU6
— Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture (@zizikodwa) May 19, 2023
Global stars like David Adjaye and Theaster Gates are among 89 participants in the main show with more than half of them from Africa or the African diaspora.
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To reduce the carbon footprint, Lokko encouraged the participating architects, artists and designers to be as “paper-thin” as possible with their exhibits, resulting in more drawings, film and projections, as well as the reuse of materials from last year’s contemporary art Biennale.
The Venice Biennale opens today and I finally get to share what we’ve been working on for the past year – a film and installation about how we did the Xinjiang investigation.
More here: https://t.co/9SQxcKavjl@meghara @christo_buschek#BiennaleArchitettura2023 pic.twitter.com/dfEJkM1Mhe— Alison Killing (@alisonkilling) May 17, 2023
“The Black body was Europe’s first unit of energy. We have had a relationship to resources since time immemorial. We operate at a place where resources are not stable. They are also often fragile. They’re often exploited. Our relationship to them is exploitative. I think we have a lot to say about this conversation,” she said.
The Venice Biennale of Architecture runs from 20 May until 26 November this year.
Congratulations to Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko on the opening of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale. The whole family was there to support. Such an incredible and thoughtful exhibition. #VeniceBiennale #italy pic.twitter.com/eNL6KHYUxI
— Ibrahim mahama (@ibrahim_mahama) May 18, 2023
Source: Africafeeds.com
