Ahead of 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, the U.S. State Department issues call for applications

The U.S. Department of State on Wednesday posted a call for applications for the country’s official presentation at the 18th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale that will commence in May of 2023. 

The upcoming rendition is being curated by award-winning Scottish-Ghanaian architect, academic, and novelist Lesley Lokko. The former CUNY Dean’s direction centers around the acknowledgment of a paradigm shift that has extended into nearly every area of the design industry. As the curator explained after the announcement of her selection back in January: “A new world order is emerging with new centers of knowledge production and control. New audiences are also emerging, hungry for different narratives, different tools, and different languages of space, form, and place." 

The winning applicant will be granted $375,000 in funding for their exhibition. Independent curators wishing to submit to the contest must become affiliated with a non-profit or educational institution prior to entering. Each curator and recommended designer or architect must either be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at the time of their application. Nonprofits that hold a 501(c)(3) status (other than a school) are encouraged to apply and will work within the U.S. pavilion’s curatorial framework to mount an exhibition that is meant to be supplemented largely with private donations.

Proposals are due no later than March 24th. 

Additional information about the grant opportunity can be found here.