By Nadia Addezio and Sylvie BelloSpecial to the AFRO
Professor Coleman A. Jordan teaches structure at Morgan State College. For over two years, he has labored intently with college students and alumni from the Baltimore HBCU, in addition to from Tuskegee and Clemson Universities, to comprehend “ReCall & Response,” a wood pavilion whose kind evokes African devices, the djembe and the dundun—the latter sometimes called the “speaking drum.” This hanging work, mixing structure and sound, is now on view on the Marinaressa Gardens within the charming lagoon metropolis of Venice.
“The drum has at all times been the heartbeat of every thing. The drumline is important in case you take a look at traditionally Black schools and universities. It’s central to the varsity’s id,” says Jordan.
That’s why exhibiting in Venice marks a serious milestone: it’s the primary time an HBCU (traditionally Black school or college) is collaborating in a globally famend occasion just like the Venice Structure Biennale.
“Within the ’80s and early ’90s, solely about 2 p.c of architects within the U.S. have been African American. And now, in 2025, the newest information I’ve seen nonetheless places us simply above that 2 p.c. We haven’t made significant progress by way of entry to this type of alternative. So I consider it’s crucial for an HBCU to be represented,” Jordan explains.
The structure college at Morgan State is led by Abimbola Asojo, an educator of Nigerian descent who’s well-experienced in African structure and world points.
“ReCall & Response” was inaugurated on Might 10, coinciding with the opening of the 2025 Venice Biennale. The mission aligns with the Biennale’s core theme of “Restore, Regenerate, Reuse,” and seeks to fix cultural rifts between African diasporas and African Individuals. It additionally works to rekindle the shared cultural practices, values and historic ties which have outlined their intertwined histories.
A very symbolic second will happen on June 21: “On the coronary heart of the pavilion, a round opening serves as a ceremonial house. An elder from Ghana will step inside, sporting conventional kente fabric, and pour libations to honor the solidarity between Africa and its world diaspora,” Jordan shares.
Constructed solely out of wooden, the pavilion embraces the ideas of environmental sustainability that information the broader exhibition throughout this lush inexperienced house. It’s a part of Time, House, Existence, a serious showcase organized by the European Cultural Centre—an unbiased cultural establishment with a number of branches throughout Europe, together with one in Venice. The construction is constructed with out nails or glue; it’s designed to be simply assembled and disassembled, utilizing solely interlocking wood joints.
Its artistic spirit is expressed via each carved symbols and vibrant textiles crowning its peak. Ghana, the cultural thread linking a lot of the work, is represented in lots of particulars—together with the Sankofa, an Adinkra image which means “return and retrieve.” It speaks to the act of reaching into the previous to reclaim one’s story in an effort to transfer ahead. This image has develop into emblematic for a lot of African Individuals. Whereas the Sankofa is rooted in Akan custom, the wax materials animating this monumental drum additionally come from West Africa—Ivory Coast, specifically. These textiles have been crafted by Speaking Palms, a social mission that brings collectively migrants and refugees at present residing in Italy. Lots of the artisans come from nations resembling The Gambia.
“In a way, it’s very poetic: taking the thought of ‘speaking drum’ and turning it into an instrument that may be performed collaboratively. This additionally displays the spirit of collaboration behind the mission, which is basically about bringing individuals collectively,” says Amos Asamoah, a scholar from Ghana at Morgan State College.
Right here is the images folder of the pavilion: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JiTXG9vJIwfG59vHjrm_oX1sR_cVxHYr?usp=drive_link
