The National Pavilion United Arab Emirates has issued an open call for proposals to curate the UAE’s exhibition for the 18th International Venice Architecture Biennale, which will run between May and November 2023.
Curators and curatorial teams—architects, designers, artists, historians or researchers with experience working in the UAE or MENASA region—are invited to submit a concept proposal for an exhibition that will explore an intriguing aspect of the UAE’s architecture or built environment that contributes to the understanding of and discourse around architectural practice locally, regionally and internationally.
“The curatorship of the National Pavilion UAE’s 2023 exhibition presents an opportunity to share an untold story of UAE through the lens of architects at the forefront of international contemporary discourse and culture. In creating a platform for ideas, the National Pavilion UAE remains committed to furthering global conversations about urbanism, architecture and living in the modern world. We encourage all interested professionals to apply and join us in making a lasting contribution to this global dialogue,” said Angela Migally, Executive Director, Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, commissioner of the National Pavilion UAE.
Laila Binbrek, Co-ordinating Director of the National Pavilion UAE, said: “We are delighted to be announcing our second open-call for the National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Biennale in 2023. For this round we continue to seek out diverse perspectives and new voices and we encourage applicants to explore creative, and collaborative ways to reflect the UAE’s contemporary discourse in a globally relevant way.”
Concept proposals should present the exhibition theme through a clear narrative that contextualizes the idea within the local, regional and global industry discussions as well as previous National Pavilion UAE exhibitions.
UAE citizens, residents of the UAE and international applicants who can demonstrate local expertise, experience and understanding are all eligible to apply, individually or as teams.
Applications will close at midnight UAE time (GMT+4) on October 31, 2021. Selected finalists will be invited to present a full proposal for the second round of the process. Full details and submission guidelines are available on the National Pavilion UAE website.
The National Pavilion UAE is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Youth. The current exhibition, Wetland, which marks the pavilion’s 10th participation at the biennale, highlights the possibilities of how salt and mineral compounds found in the UAE’s Sabkha (salt flats) is inspiring the development of renewable building materials. The exhibition is curated by Wael Al Awar, Principal Architect and founding partner of waiwai, an award-winning multidisciplinary architecture, landscape, graphic and urban design studio, and architect Kenichi Teramoto who was a founding partner of waiwai and recently founded the Office of Teramoto in Japan.
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