Today the Board of La Biennale di Venezia announced the appointment of Lesley Lokko as its curator for the 2023 Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition. 

Lokko is an esteemed architectural leader, best-selling novelist, and academic advocate whose work within and outside architecture circles has proven her a formidable force for change. Upon her appointment, Lokko shared with La Biennale di Venezia, "A new world order is emerging, with new centers of knowledge production and control. New audiences are also emerging, hungry for different narratives, different tools, and different languages of space, form, and place." 

This past year, Lokko's work and efforts within architectural academia have made headlines. While her resignation as Dean of CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture in October 2020 shook the architecture community, that did not stop Lokko's unshakeable efforts and dedication to her pursuits in architectural academia. She has been committed to providing pathways for students to receive an architecture education, especially those in her home of Ghana. 

Lokko has taught and held leadership positions at various academic institutions in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, and Africa. She is currently the founder and director of the African Futures Institute in Accra, Ghana, launched in 2020. In addition to her academic work, 2021 was a big year for Lokko as the recipient of the RIBA Annie Spink Award and Ada Louise Huxtable Award.

The 2020/21 iteration of the Venice Biennale produced polarizing responses from the community that raised several questions about the future of architectural exhibition, innovation, and discourse. Roberto Cicutto, President of La Biennale di Venezia, shared "the curators of the Biennale's International Exhibitions have always tried, through the vision of the participants they invite, to afford us as comprehensive an overview as possible of the themes and projects which are suitable for dealing with future scenarios. The appointment of Lesley Lokko as curator of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition is a way of welcoming the gaze of an international personality who is able to interpret, through different roles, her own position in the contemporary debate on architecture and cities, which takes as its starting point her own experience immersed in a continent that is increasingly becoming a laboratory of experimentation and proposals for the whole contemporary world." 

In June of this year, Archinect's Niall Patrick Walsh delivered important discourse surrounding this year's Venice Biennale. While the work and exhibitions presented were thought-provoking in their response to the theme "How will we live together," the underlying issues raised at the biennale have not gone unnoticed by President Cicutto. On Lokko's appointment, he adds, "I believe that this immersion, in reality, is the best way to dialogue with the questions raised by the 2021 Exhibition curated by Hashim Sarkis."

After two of the most difficult and divisive years in living memory, architects have a unique opportunity to show the world what we do best: put forward ambitious and creative ideas that help us imagine a more equitable and optimistic future in common.

Across the architecture community and social media, praises of excitement towards Lokko's appointment have been shared. 2020 and 2021 has been challenging year for many. With the pandemic along with socio-economic and political turbulence found across the globe, the efforts of individuals like Lokko provide a shining light to what is to come. 

"After two of the most difficult and divisive years in living memory, architects have a unique opportunity to show the world what we do best: put forward ambitious and creative ideas that help us imagine a more equitable and optimistic future in common. Speaking to you from the world's youngest continent, I would like to thank President Cicutto and the entire team of La Biennale di Venezia for this bold, brave choice."