Jayden Ali amongst curatorial team selected for Venice Biennale 2023
As part of a curatorial team of architects, designers and curators, Jayden Ali has been selected with Joseph Henry, Meneesha Kellay and Sumitra Upham to represent the UK at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition at la Biennale di Venezia 2023. The exhibition will explore non-extractive material culture - revealing how diasporic craft and material cultures can help foster a more sustainable future for British architecture, built on principles of care and equity over extraction and exploitation.
The curators will transform the British Pavilion into celebratory spaces, collaborating with architectural practitioners, researchers, and makers. The exhibition design intends to embrace collective construction methods and processes that avoid exploiting people and the planet.
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.
Jayden Ali, Joseph Henry, Meneesha Kellay, and Sumitra Upham said:
“We want to thank the Selection Committee for inviting us to curate the British Pavilion for la Biennale di Venezia 2023.
“Our exhibition will explore architecture of the diaspora through a pre-colonial lens, celebrating the spectrum of architectural philosophies, making practices and material knowledge within those communities.
“Foregrounding their currency at a time of growing social polarisation and ecological degradation, we intend to amplify voices and perspectives that have been previously overlooked in British architecture. Our pavilion will readdress the architectural canon through a joyful celebration of pluralism.”
The British Council has been commissioning the British Pavilion in Venice since 1937, showcasing the best of the UK's artists, architects, designers and curators. These exhibitions, and the Venice Fellowships initiative introduced in 2016, help make the British Pavilion a platform for discussion on contemporary art and architecture.
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From top left clockwise: Meneesha Kellay, Jayden Ali, Sumitra Upham, Joseph Henry
The Curatorial Team
Joseph Henry is a designer, urbanist and writer whose practice involves working closely with institutions to be more progressive in how they shape our urban environment. Joseph works at the Greater London Authority as Capital Development Manager in the Culture and Creative Industries Unit. He previously led the Ecological Urbanism research inquiry, where he developed planning policy and guidance to embed circular economy principles into London’s planning system. Joseph, alongside Pooja Agrawal, co-founded Sound Advice, an extra-institutional platform that explores new forms of spatial practice through music. Sound Advice develops projects that foreground narratives and culture critical to designing a more progressive and plural urban environment. Joseph has written for titles such as Dezeen and Casabella He is a trustee of the Russell Maliphant Dance Company, an advisor to Thearum Mundi and an associate lecturer on the MArch course and Central Saint Martins.
Meneesha Kaur Kellay is a London based curator and writer. She is currently the Contemporary Programme Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), where she commissions projects and installations, and curates Friday Lates alongside the museum’s participation in the London Design Festival, biennales and other one-off exhibitions and displays. Previously she was Public Programmes Curator at the RIBA; led Open House London 2014; produced talks and events at the Architectural Association and was also the Assistant Director of AA Night School. Meneesha has conducted independent projects with Museum of Architecture, London College of Fashion and the Baltic Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2016. After studying architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture, Meneesha specialised in curating visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Meneesha has sat on the RIBA Architects for Change Advisory Board, was appointed on the 2019 London Festival of Architecture Curation Panel and is a Steering Committee Member for Design Can. She is part of the V&A Anti-Racism Taskforce and is passionate about decolonising cultural institutions.
Sumitra Upham is a London-based curator with an interest in making as a tool for social justice. She is currently Head of Public Programmes at the Crafts Council where she leads the team responsible for the collection, exhibitions and events. From 2017-2021 she was Senior Curator of Public Programmes at the Design Museum, where she was responsible for leading an interdisciplinary programme of events, residencies and temporary projects. Sumitra joined the Board of Trustees at Cubitt, the artist- run gallery and cooperative, in 2020. In 2019 she was appointed Curator of Programmes for the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial, titled Empathy Re-Visited: Designs for more than one led by Mariana Pestana. Previously, Sumitra was Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London where she curated educational projects and exhibitions including Radical Disco: Architecture and Nightlife in Italy, 1965 - 1975 in collaboration with Dr Catharine Rossi, See Red Women’s Workshop and Shout Out! UK Pirate Radio in the 1980s. Prior to this, Sumitra was part of the exhibitions team at White Cube. She holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Design from Kingston University in partnership with the Design Museum, London.
Jayden Ali is the Founding Director of interdisciplinary practice JA Projects and works at the meeting point of architecture, urban planning and art, focusing on public facing, cultural projects that strengthen communities and enrich society. Approaching a decade of working; previous projects range from architectural masterplans, new builds, refurbishments and exhibitions, through to the production of documentaries, urban research and the establishment of community institutions. He is a Senior Lecturer on Central Saint Martins’ MArch Architecture course, is a trustee of Open City/Open House and a columnist at Elephant Magazine. He is part of the Hackney Regeneration Design Advisory Group and sits on the London Legacy Development Corporation Quality Review Panel. Jayden has been recognised as a key voice in architecture ‘shaping a new future for London’ by the Design Museum, Wallpaper Magazine and the Architecture Foundation, and is included within the Architects’ Journal’s prestigious ’40 Under 40’ list.
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The 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from Saturday 20 May to Sunday 26 November, 2023.
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The full press release is available here