Fitch Colloquium 2026: Preserving Independence

Organized by Columbia GSAPP Preservation Program and the MoMA Department of Architecture and Design

The 2026 Fitch Colloquium, Preserving Independence, explores contemporary preservation practices in western Africa and the ways they have grappled with the architectural and cultural legacies of independence and decolonization. Taking place during the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, the colloquium uses this occasion to broaden contemporary reflections on independence by foregrounding the role of architectural preservation in shaping the collective memory of independence in western Africa. Over the past few years, preservationists, architects, archaeologists, and cultural institutions across the region have started to confront complex questions regarding the preservation of buildings, monuments, landscapes, and sites associated with independence movements and postcolonial nation building. Their work has involved not only the preservation of colonial heritage, but also the recognition and reinterpretation of modern and brutalist buildings constructed during the era of independence as emblems of national identity, political aspiration, and cultural self-determination. 

The colloquium examines how preservation has participated in the construction of national heritage across western Africa, and how preservation priorities have developed within differing political, cultural, and institutional contexts. It will consider the legacies of distinct colonial administrations, in particular French and British, and how these histories continue to shape preservation policy and architectural conservation. It will also examine more recent exchanges between western African and American preservationists, museums, and cultural institutions, and the ways these transatlantic dialogues have informed contemporary preservation discourse. Taking as its point of departure the MoMA exhibition “Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa” on post-independence architecture in region, the colloquium expands the discussion to include the preservation practices that have emerged around this architecture and the broader cultural landscapes of independence. In doing so, it highlights the important contributions West African preservationists have made to contemporary debates on heritage, memory, adaptive reuse, and the preservation of modern architecture. 

The colloquium is premised on the idea that the collective memory of independence as a foundational political event has both shaped and been shaped by preservation practices in western Africa and the United States, and that there is much to be learned from placing these histories in dialogue. The colloquium seeks to foster new dialogue between West African and American preservationists on how to preserve and interpret sites associated with independence on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Organized in conjunction with MoMA’s exhibition “Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa”, the colloquium brings together preservationists, architects, historians, planners, archaeologists, curators, and cultural leaders to reflect on the past, present, and future of preservation in western Africa.

Speakers include
Stephen Battle—Senior Regional Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, World Monuments Fund (WMF)
Jeanne Autran-Edorh—Studio NEiDA
Rachel Engmann—Director, Christiansborg Archaeological Heritage Project (CAHP)
Prita Meier—Professor of Art and Architectural History and Deputy Director of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU
Ishanlosen Odiaua—Architect, Senior Social Development Specialist—WBG
Ikem Okoye—Associate Professor, African Art and Architecture, University of Delaware
Francis Sossah—President of the African Union of Architects
Martino Stierli—The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, MoMA

Schedule
Friday, October 2, 1:30 to 7pm
Public colloquium at Columbia University with two thematic panels:
1:30pm: Introductions
1:45–3:45pm: PANEL 1: Modernity and Independence
3:45–4:15pm: Coffee break
4:15–6pm: PANEL 2: Preservation Institutions
6–7:30pm: Reception 

Please register on Eventbrite to attend

Organizers
Jorge Otero-Pailos, Professor and Director of Historic Preservation, GSAPP, Columbia University
Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, MoMA

For more information and updates, visit: arch.columbia.edu/fitch