Nigerian artist and architect, Peju Alatise, has been selected as one of the 114 architects and artists participating at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, organized by La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale). This comes three years after she represented Nigeria alongside two other artists, at its debut pavilion at Venice Arte Biennale.
Curated by Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the 17th International Architecture Exhibition examines the question “How will we live together?” This question is as much a social and political question as a spatial one.
In a statement about the exhibition, Sarkis stated: “The 17th Exhibition also maintains that it is in its material, spatial, and cultural specificity that architecture inspires the ways we live together. In that respect, we ask the participants to highlight those aspects of the main theme that are uniquely architectural…The Biennale Architettura 2020 is motivated by new kinds of problems that the world is putting in front of architecture… But more than ever, architects are called upon to propose alternatives. As citizens, we mobilize our synthetic skills to bring people together to resolve complex problems. As artists, we defy the inaction that comes from uncertainty to ask “What if?”. And as builders, we draw from our bottomless well of optimism. The confluence of roles in these nebulous times can only make our agency stronger and, we hope, our architecture more beautiful.”
Alatise will present a new work, an ambitious large-scale site-specific installation that draws inspiration from Yoruba folklore and storytelling on understanding, unity and togetherness between cultures.
Other African artists (individuals and collectives) participating at the exhibition include atelier masōmī – Mariam Kamara (Niger), Cave_bureau – (Kenya), Olalekan Jeyifous (USA) & Mpho Matsipa (South Africa and USA), Paula Nascimento (Angola), and K63.STUDIO – Osborne Macharia (Kenya & Canada). Visit this page to see the full list of participating artists and architects in the exhibition.
The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will run from May 23 – November 29, 2020, with a pre-opening on May 21 & 22, 2020.