EXHIBITIONS & EXCURSIONS

LIECHTENSTEIN CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2023 18TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION

«More than buildings, form, materials, or structures, it is architecture’s ability to alter how see the world that is its most precious and powerful gift.» - 

writes Lesley Lokko, the curator of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 in her statement.

The Liechtenstein contribution picks up ideas and shows the invisible bond between Liechtenstein and Africa, which changes living spaces, social spaces, and social structures in an integrative and global society through our actions. Liechtenstein and Africa are connected, even if both sides are not aware of it. Liechtenstein exports several hundred tons of electronic waste every year. It is difficult, if not impossible, to trace his paths, but the effects can be seen on both sides. In Africa, e-waste causes disease and poverty, but it is the livelihood of many people through the production of valuable materials. In Liechtenstein, these recyclable materials must be created anew. E-waste has now taken on a global dimension and is also relevant for small countries like Liechtenstein. Is e-waste waste or a valuable resource? What would change if exports were successively reduced? In Africa? And in Liechtenstein? As in a laboratory, we take two comparable sizes to experiment - Liechtenstein and Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana. Agbogbloshie municipality is centered around Africa's largest e-waste dump. Its 40,000 inhabitants depend on the extraction of recyclable materials from the rubbish dump.

On a macro level, we look at the connection between Liechtenstein and Agbogbloshie and the changes in structures caused by the reduction in e-waste - spatial and social. On a micro level, the details of people's everyday lives are considered once they are confronted with the subject. This observation is presented in the exhibition in a dual way - a physical-haptic and a virtual one. Both levels are connected by trays and are interactive for the viewer. On the one hand, the invisible bond between Liechtenstein and Africa is represented metaphorically by the data that is not directly visible and the lack of knowledge about it. On the other hand, the concrete visible structures in Agbogbloshie are associated with the impact of the e-waste. The viewer can move through the room and optionally call up information about current data and possible developments. In the run-up to the exhibition, research questions and data collection in Ghana and Liechtenstein will be addressed through various activities at the University of Lichtenstein and collaborations with institutions in Ghana. In panel discussions and public lectures, impulses for more cooperation between Liechtenstein and Africa - politics, universities, companies - can be stimulated.  

Gabriela Dimitrova, Universität Liechtenstein