A new curatorial team of architects and curators – Jayden Ali, Joseph Henry, Meneesha Kellay and Sumitra Upham – are representing the UK at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition at la Biennale di Venezia 2023.
Responding to the wider themes of this year’s Biennale Architettura - The Laboratory of the Future - the curators are transforming the Pavilion into celebratory spaces. They have selected six UK-based artists and architects to conceive and produce objects to reflect global rituals and cultural practices that impact space.
The exhibition will give audiences a chance to imagine different futures where collaboration, experimentation and equity are prioritised in the planning of space in the UK.
Jayden Ali is the Founding Director of interdisciplinary practice JA Projects and a Senior Lecturer at Central Saint Martins; Joseph Henry is a designer and urbanist, co-founder of platform Sound Advice and works as part of the Culture and Creative Industries Team at the Greater London Authority; Meneesha Kellay is the Contemporary Programme Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and Sumitra Upham is a curator and writer, currently Head of Public Programmes at the Crafts Council.
Asked about the opportunity, they said: 'We want to thank the Selection Committee for inviting us to curate the British Pavilion for la Biennale di Venezia 2023.
'The 2023 British Pavilion is a space for rethinking the role that people play in shaping the built environment. It demonstrates the need for architecture to look beyond buildings and economic structures and towards everyday social practices, customs and traditions in order to meaningfully reflect how people use and occupy space.'
The full press release is available here.