V&A's tropical modernism brings symbols of liberated africa to venice architeecture biennale

Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa

Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa is a collaborative exhibition between La Biennale di Venezia and the V&A. Taking place on the occasion of Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, this presentation delves into the complex history of Tropical Modernism by critically examining the Department of Tropical Architecture and 14 significant projects.

Organized in collaboration with the Architectural Association (AA), London, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, the exhibition sheds light on how this unique architectural style initially emerged and used as a means to reinforce colonial dominance. However, it also explores how newly independent African nations embraced and adapted Tropical Modernism to envision a Pan-African future filled with promise and potential. This transformative period followed Ghana’s historic achievement as the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957.

KNUST envisioned Tropical Modernism as more than just a means of nation-building; they saw it as a manifestation of the Pan-African ideology. To bring this vision to life, they collaborated with architects from Eastern Europe, who joined forces with Ghanaian architects. Together, they set out to construct monumental structures that would serve as symbols of a liberated Africa.

Black Star Square, Accra, Ghana Public Works Department, film still from ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa’, copyright V_A.

Ghana’s Architectural Heritage on Display

The Venice exhibition in the Applied Arts Pavilion, curated by Dr. Christopher Turner (V&A), Nana Biamah-Ofosu, and Bushra Mohamed (AA), unfolds around a large installation stretching 35 meters in length based on the striking brise soleil patterns from Fry and Drew’s works. This installation incorporates embedded lightboxes and vitrines that showcase photographs, plans, and various ephemera, all of which narrate the fascinating tale of Tropical Modernism.

At the heart of the Pavilion, visitors can experience an immersive three-channel film that was filmed in Ghana. This offers panoramic portraits of 14 significant remaining buildings, including a Community Centre in Accra by Fry and Drew and Unity Hall at KNUST in Kumasi by John Owusu Addo. It combines interviews with surviving individuals who played key roles, such as 95-year-old architect Addo, who received training in London and studied at the Department of Tropical Studies before returning to KNUST to construct and teach. Additionally, interviews with Samia Nkrumah, a politician and the daughter of Ghana’s first Prime Minister and President, Kwame Nkrumah, provide valuable insights. The film is interspersed with archival footage, showcasing the original use of the buildings and situating the architecture in the politics of the time.

Africa Hall, KNUST, Kumasi, Miro Marasović, Nikso Ciko and John Owuso Addo, film still from ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa’, copyright V&A

‘Through close study of the work of the Department of Tropical Studies and its collaboration with KNUST, our Venice presentation explores the ways in which Tropical Modernism was adapted by Ghanaian architects to promote Nkrumah’s Pan-African ideals during a transitional moment in which new freedoms were won and a break with the colonial past was articulated through architecture. It considers the power of architecture, both as a means of colonial suppression and a symbol of nascent political freedom, as well as exploring the specific legacy of Tropical Modernism in West Africa,’ described Dr. Christopher Turner, Keeper of Art, Architecture, Photography & Design at V&A and Lead Curator of Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa.

film still from ‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa’, copyright V&A

‘This exhibition investigates the AA’s archives and institutional history in relation to its collaboration with KNUST in the 1960s. Our research centers the significant African figures of this collaboration whose voices and recollections are missing within the archives. By revisiting key buildings developed by prominent architects of the time, we are interested in the story of politics, power, resistance and freedom that this architecture came to represent in the post-independence Pan-African dream. This exhibition presents an important moment in centering African architecture, architects, and historians, and addressing the omissions and erasure evident in the archives,’ explained Nana Biamah-Ofosu and Bushra Mohamed, researchers and architects at the Architectural Association (AA), London and co-curators of Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa.