V&A to curate UK pavilion at London Design Biennale 2018

The museum will work with research studio Forensic Architecture on the installation, which is inspired by this year’s theme of “emotional states”.

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum has been announced as the curator of the UK pavilion at London Design Biennale 2018.

Launched in 2016, the exhibition takes place at London’s Somerset House every two years and brings together designers and creatives from all over the world to create installations.

This year’s event will see designs from countries, cities and other territories spanning six continents, each of which is based on the theme of “emotional states”. The UK is the latest country to be announced, with the V&A set to curate the pavilion in collaboration with research studio Forensic Architecture.

Based at Goldsmiths, University of London, Forensic Architecture comprises a multidisciplinary team of architects, software developers, filmmakers, archaeologists, lawyers and journalists.

The installation will be based on the studio’s work in the Sinjar area of Iraq, where it is training Kurdish-speaking Yazidis to document and preserve evidence of the atrocities committed by terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in the region. For example, three-dimensional models of areas destroyed by IS will be reconstructed using photography and photogrammetry (geographic measurements taken from photos).

The pavilion will showcase the processes of collecting, curating and reconstructing these images, as well as the objects used during the training of the Yazidi people, such as rigs that are made from kites. “The research project that will be displayed is also an important piece of evidence that will hopefully help bring the perpetrators of these war crimes to account,” adds Forensic Architecture founder, Professor Eyal Weizman.

In addition to the UK pavilion, several other countries have been announced as participants, including Colombia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. They join already confirmed countries: Argentina, Austria, Canada, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Israel, Kenya, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Taiwan and USA.

London Design Biennale takes place from 4-23 September 2018 at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. For more info, head here.

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