The theme and title of this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale have been announced as The Laboratory of the Future, vetting a decolonized vision of Africa as a petri dish for the hopes of the broader world to come. As the Biennale’s curator, architect and academic Lesley Lokko, explains: “At an anthropological level, we are all African. And what happens in Africa, happens to us all.” 

Under the direction of Lokko, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition will focus on the continent’s past history and potential to be a ‘workshop’ (in historian Richard Sennett’s understanding of the word as a ‘laboratory’) wherein the shared fate and destiny of mankind are being forged in areas of urbanization, public health, resilient design, and social justice.

Lokko pointed to models of African history as forerunners of change that ushered into this world institutions like the Tuskegee Institute and social causes such as the Civil Rights movement to the overall betterment of society. The exhibition will therefore impart the influence of this history onto visitor and participant alike towards an end that elevates the work of built environment practitioners to finally abate ideals she considers illusory. In her words, “the vision of a modern, diverse, and inclusive society is seductive and persuasive, but as long as it remains an image, it is a mirage. Something more than representation is needed, and architects historically are key players in translating images into reality.”

Africa has one of the richest naturally-resourced regions on the planet as it pertains to important future technologies like electric vehicles and renewable energy technology. It is also urbanizing at a rate of 4%, a figure which far outpaces that of any other continent and comes along with terrible costs to the local population, environment, and ecosystem.

Biennale President Roberto Cicutto said the theme would be comparable in form to the 2015 exhibition, which had an overlapping theme of Building the World’s Futures and was curated by Nigerian art historian Okwui Enwezor, who died in 2019 at the age of 55.

Lokko, who credited her position to the work past generations did in advancing different forms of inclusion, said finally she wants the exhibition to communicate the notion that “hope is a powerful currency.” Cicutto complimented her vision, saying the theme “shows determination and courage in using two words in her title that are time-worn but irreplaceable — 'laboratory and future' — to restore the full importance of their meaning.” 

“You will understand how her approach looks very much like the proposal for a pact between the visitors of La Biennale, the world of architecture, and of culture in general,” he said of her forward-looking vision. “This is an exhibition that, based on very practical premises and very specific points of view, will look straight into the eyes of the representatives of participating countries, and all those who will crowd the Giardini, the Arsenale, and the City of Venice. All in order to speak to the world, which is the real reason why a curator takes on the responsibility of organizing an International Exhibition of La Biennale.”

The Laboratory of the Future is scheduled to run from May 20th through November 26th, 2023.