Following the莱斯利·洛科（Lesley Lokko）命名为策展人La Biennale di Venezia举行的第18届国际建筑展览会 - 2023年威尼斯建筑双年展—last December, the Ghanaian-Scottish architect and academic has揭示了策展主题和标题即将到来的exhibition：未来的实验室。

该消息是由La Biennale di Venezia总裁Lokko和Roberto Cicutto昨天于5月31日宣布的。洛科（Lokko），曾在金狮（Golden Lion第17威尼斯建筑双年展，，，，是the first person of African descent to be appointed for the lead curatorial role and only the fourth woman followingSANAA’sKazuyo Sejima (2010) andYvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara爱尔兰公司Grafton Architects（2018）。

Lokko在反思她在12月的任命时指出：“建筑师有一个独特的机会向世界展示我们最擅长的事情：提出雄心勃勃和创意的想法，以帮助我们想象一个更公平和更乐观的未来。”当时她的言论是由“世界上最年轻的大陆”作出的，就是那个大陆，非洲，，，，that will serve as the thematic cornerstone of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.

“In Europe we speak of minorities and diversity, but the truth is that the West’s minorities are the global majority. There is one place on this planet where all these questions of equity, race, hope and fear converge and coalesce. Africa. At an anthropological level, we are all African. And what happens in Africa happens to us all,” said Lokko in the formal announcement of the next Architecture Biennale’s title and theme. (You can read her full introductionhere。)

Born in Scotland, raised in Ghana, and receiving her architectural training at The Bartlett and University of London, Lokko’s career in academia has seen her traverse the globe, teaching and holding leadership posts at myriad institutions in the U.K. and in North America.

非洲has also remained a constant. In 2015, Lokko founded theGraduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburgarchi的唯一专门的研究生院tecture in Africa and the only school on the continent to follow the Unit System, a pedagogical method first developed at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Last year, Lokko, alongside David Adjaye, established the African Futures Institute (AFI）在加纳首都阿克拉。在conversation with一个，，，，Lokko described that project as having “been in the background for almost two decades.”

在her role as curator of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, Lokko has envisioned the exhibition as a workshop of sorts for architects, designers, and creatives—a laboratory in which postcolonial Africa, youthful and resilient, serves as an exemplar of progressive change. “Lesley 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,” remarked Cicutto. “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.”

Lokko’s full curatorial statement reads:

“首先，非洲是未来的实验室。我们是世界上最年轻的大陆，平均年龄是欧洲和美国的一半，比亚洲年轻十岁。我们是世界上最快的城市化大陆，每年以近4％的速度增长。这种快速且在很大程度上计划外的增长通常以当地环境和生态系统为代价，这使我们处于区域和行星水平的气候变化的煤炭面孔。我们仍然是最不足的大陆，只有15％，但由于科学界仍然无法完全解释的很大的差距记录了最少的死亡和感染。因此，经常在希望和历史，韧性，自力更生和悠久的基层社区医疗保健的悠久历史上，突然对我们有利的平衡表示了平衡。强迫通过跨大西洋奴隶贸易被迫移民的漫长而创伤的历史是在当今世界各地正在为民权的连续斗争和更加民间社会的斗争。在所有关于脱碳化的讨论中，很容易忘记，黑体是助长欧洲帝国扩张的第一批劳动单位，从而塑造了现代世界。种族平等和气候正义是同一枚硬币的两个方面。

But hope is a powerful currency. To be hopeful is to be human. At a deeply personal level, I owe my presence at this table today to the tireless demands for a more just, more inclusive and more equitable fought for by generations before me. 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.

Secondly,La Biennale di Venezia本身也是未来的一种实验室，这是一个关于该学科与该学科相关性的时代和空间this世界和即将到来的世界 - 占据地点。如今，“实验室”一词更普遍地与科学实验有关，并结合了特定的房间或建筑物的图像。但是，理查德·塞内特（Richard Sennett）对“研讨会”一词的检查，“实验室”一词源于该一词，以不同的方式加深了协作努力的概念。在古代世界中，在中国和希腊，研讨会是锚定公民生活的最重要的机构。在美国内战之后，前奴隶的布克·T·华盛顿（Booker T.社区。重要的是，在此临时搬迁期间，合作将通过直接经验和每天的每日接触而建立。我们将展览设想为一种研讨会，这是一个实验室，建筑师和从业人员在扩展的创意学科领域中汲取了当代实践的例子，这些实践为观众绘制了一条途径 - 参与者和访客，都可以编织，想象自己，想象自己。未来可以实现什么。”

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, held at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other locations, will kick off on May 20, 2023 and conclude November 26, 2023. Meanwhile in Venice, theCecilia Alemani策划第59届国际艺术展览会2022年双年展Arte现在正在进行中。