21.5—30.6.2016
AFRICAN MODERNISM,
ARCHITECTURE OF INDEPENDENCE
African architecture is incredibly rich and its exploration here makes it possible to eliminate all possible preconceptions. During the 1960s and ‘70s, as decolonization advanced, 5 African countries—Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Zambia— all wanted to symbolically show off their recently recovered independence by constructing buildings as manifestoes of their new liberty. Some have since been razed, others are in sad shape today, but all reveal a wealth and daring that are truly exceptional. Creating an archival piece from this output, the architect and curator Manuel Herz has put together for us a novel and fascinating collection that was shot by the pre-eminent photographers Iwan Baan and Alexia Webster.
