The veil’s shape is derived from the Kenyan Maasai people’s traditional manyatta dwellings which are characterised by their single entrance and curved profile.
Casting the British Pavilion in a black, brown and red hue, the veil makes visible the 'other earths' that empire displaced, inverting the project of colonial conquest that forced colonised peoples to see oneself through another’s eyes. The veil obscures but it also reveals.
‘The portico represents the Palladian and neoclassicism of the British Pavilion, which has its resonances in a British and colonial context. So we wanted the pavilion to enter a state of decolonial reconfiguration by obscuring it; but also in that process, transform it and distort the silhouette.’
Curatorial Team