venice architecture biennale '23, 'the laboratory of the future,' spotlights african diaspora & climate change

THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION OPENS ITS DOORS

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale will open its doors to the public from May 20 to November 26, 2023, under the title ‘The Laboratory of the Future.’ Curated by Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko, this year’s international architecture exhibition is focused on combating climate change by promoting a more sustainable model for the design, installation, and operation of all its events, while reflecting on the themes of decolonization and decarbonization. At the same time, the Biennale shines a spotlight on Africa and the African Diaspora, with 89 participants, over half of whom are of African descent. In addition, the gender ratio among participants is 50/50, the average age is 43, and, almost half of the participants come from individual or group practices of up to five people, showcasing that the 18th Architecture Biennale highlights inclusion and diversity more than ever.

Participants in the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale include Adjaye Associates, atelier masōmī, Hood Design Studio, Ibrahim Mahama, Kéré Architecture, MASS Design Group, Theaster Gates, Andres Jaque, Neri & Hu, and many more.

the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale is curated by Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko | image courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia (head image: ‘January, February, March’ installation at the Georgian Pavilion, image © Tobias Schmitt, Gigi Shukakidze)

BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2023: THE LABORATORY OF THE FUTURE

The 2023 International Architecture Exhibition focuses on agents of change, introducing a new way of thinking. ‘What does it mean to be ‘an agent of change’? (…) In May last year, I referred to the exhibition several times as ‘a story’, a narrative unfolding in space.’ states Lesley Lokko.‘Today, my understanding has changed. An architecture exhibition is both a moment and a process. It borrows its structure and format from art exhibitions, but it differs from art in critical ways which often go unnoticed. Aside from the desire to tell a story, questions of production, resources, and representation are central to the way an architecture exhibition comes into the world, yet are rarely acknowledged or discussed. From the outset, it was clear that the essential gesture of The Laboratory of the Future would be ‘change’.’

‘(…) For the first time ever, the spotlight has fallen on Africa and the African Diaspora, that fluid and enmeshed culture of people of African descent that now straddles the globe. What do we wish to say? How will what we say change anything? And, perhaps most importantly of all, how will what we say interact with and infuse what ‘others’ say, so that the exhibition is not a single story, but multiple stories that reflect the vexing, gorgeous kaleidoscope of ideas, contexts, aspirations, and meanings that is every voice responding to the issues of its time?’

‘It is often said that culture is the sum total of the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves. Whilst it is true, what is missing in the statement is any acknowledgement of who the ‘we’ in question is. In architecture particularly, the dominant voice has historically been a singular, exclusive voice, whose reach and power ignores huge swathes of humanity — financially, creatively, conceptually — as though we have been listening and speaking in one tongue only. The ‘story’ of architecture is therefore incomplete. Not wrong, but incomplete. It is in this context particularly that exhibitions matter.’

the UAE National Pavilion for the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale | image © Reem Falaknaz

building a better world with imagination

The Laboratory of the Future is conceived as an exhibition separated into six parts and includes and 89 participants from across the globe. ‘Central to all the projects is the primacy and potency of one tool: the imagination’ explains the curator. ‘It is impossible to build a better world if one cannot first imagine it.’

63 National Participations will organize their exhibitions in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini (27), at the Arsenale (22) and in the city centre of Venice (14). Niger participates for the first time at the Biennale Architettura; Panama participates for the first time with its own pavilion and has already participated in previous editions as part of the I.I.L.A. (Italo-Latin American International Organization). Among the works in all exhibition venues are young African and diasporic artists, whose works directly address the twin themes of this exhibition, decolonization and decarbonization, offering a snapshot, a glimpse of future practices, and ways of looking at the world and their lives.