An anthropologist, writer, artist, and curator based in New York and Mumbai, Rao brings a multidisciplinary perspective and a deep sensitivity to context in her work. With a background in socio-cultural anthropology, her writing has contributed significantly to critical discourse on urbanism and the built environment, with a focus on India and the United States, and her practice increasingly bridges research and public engagement. For SAT03, Rao works closely with London and Cape Town-based curator and publisher Tavengwa, continuing a rich dialogue that began with their curatorial collaboration for the 2022 Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Tavengwa is the founder and editor of Cityscapes Magazine, a publication dedicated to exploring urbanism from a Global South perspective, and the co-founder of CS Studio, an interdisciplinary urbanism studio.

Mona El-Mousfy, advisor for the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, comments: “We are thrilled to have Vyjayanthi Rao as curator for our upcoming edition. Her deep knowledge of urbanism, with her particular focus on South Asian cities and neighborhoods, brings invaluable insight to the project. With her background in anthropology and her research-driven approach, she will undoubtedly offer a fresh perspective to this edition. Vyjayanthi has invited her long-time collaborator, Tau Tavengwa, to join as associate curator. Tau is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of the field and reimagining the architecture Triennial model alongside her.”

The curators will collaborate closely with the Triennial team to build on its ongoing initiatives in the public realm, drawing on its deep knowledge of the city and community networks, while contributing broader perspectives on architecture’s role in shaping more sustainable, inclusive, and responsive cities. Aligning with the Sharjah Architecture Triennial’s focus on process as a means of idea generation, Rao and Tavengwa invite SAT03 to adopt a propositional, rather than representational, approach. Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa expand: “We are hugely grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an important and distinctive platform as the Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Through our collaboration, we hope to open up new ways of thinking about what a triennial like Sharjah can become over time – leaving behind tangible strategies and ideas that respond to the needs and challenges of contemporary urban centres across the Global South and beyond.”

Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, comments, “Rao’s practice, which offers vital insights into urbanisation, aligns with the context of SAT and Sharjah’s ongoing urban transformation. Her work speaks directly to the Triennial’s mission in terms of our commitment to research, innovation and knowledge-sharing, and we are excited to support both her and Tau in fostering a public-facing conversation around the critical, and complex, issues of today.”

Hoor Al Qasimi | Photo by Chieska Fortune Smith.

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, Sharjah Architecture Triennial will host “Meet the Curators of the 2026 SAT Edition,” a public event at SAT headquarters, Al Qasimiyah School, marking the first official appearance of Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa as SAT03 curator and associate curator. This gathering will offer audiences a unique opportunity to engage with the newly appointed team as they share initial insights into their curatorial approach and vision for the upcoming edition. The conversation will unfold in dialogue with members of the SAT team, offering a first look into the conceptual framework shaping SAT03.

Cover image credits: Vyjayanthi Rao, photo by Alfonse Chiu; Tau Tavengwa, photo by Samer Moukarzel

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Tosin Oshinowo photographed by Bashar Belal

Many of Oshinowo’s endeavours follow these principles of human-centric design, whether it is about community engagement or giving voice to artists and creatives as part of her own projects (she has participated in several artistic projects herself, such as her collaboration with Lexus and London-based designer Chrissa Amuah). But besides being conscious of human efforts, Oshinowo is also keenly aware of the importance of one’s context, which has given way to an alternative view of sustainability: one that merits local materials and locally-appropriate architecture which strays from Western ‘modernisation’ and a ‘global style’. “[The architecture] needs to reference where it is from, it needs to be conscious of the environment and it needs to pull inspiration from its context,” she tells identity. 

Oshinowo plans to carry forward these principles as part of her new role as the curator of the second edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, under the theme ‘The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability’, that will explore issues of scarcity across the Global South which has given rise to a culture of re-use, re-appropriation, innovation, collaboration and adaptation. “[The theme] comes from my understanding of my environment, my contextuality, and the fact that particularly in Africa, and in Lagos, we are always working with limited resources. [With this comes] an [abundance] of innovation and creativity. I used to think of it as a constraint, but to be honest, that is where we found our freedom.”

Al Qasimiya Private School is one of the venues for the Sharjah Architecture Triennial

Set to take place in November 2023, the Triennial will bring together architects, designers, planners, artists and product designers who are working towards reorienting global conversations to create a more inclusively sustainable and resilient future for people and the planet.

To prioritise sustainable practices that work with the climate rather than against it, Oshinowo asserts that one must “go back to go forward” and this calls for moving away from the canon of global notions of sustainability. “If I look at traditional buildings prior to colonialism, they were comfortable, they were appropriate, [and] there was a culture of maintenance, of renewal, of regeneration, which we have lost. We have this buzzword ‘sustainability’ today which [is] highly abused. It is not enough to have ‘zero impact’. The traditional buildings of the past were about the cycle of life and regenerating and renewing. [For example], in Northern Nigeria, at the end of every rainy season, there is a process of repairing the walls [of the building]. [It is] a natural cycle. We have lost so much of that in modern architecture,” she says. 

The architect plans to tap practitioners from across the Global South who are working within the reality of scarcity, traditional technologies and adaptable design that are relevant to their contexts and could become learning examples for the rest of the world. While the detailed programming and participant list has not been fully defined, current plans include dividing the exhibition into a series of sections: one exploring architectures that adapt to their environment, one on innovative and contextual materials and another one the use of waste, that – although problematic – is being used to create interesting interventions.

“One of the biggest challenges we have, particularly in West Africa, is that we have become the dumping ground for the West’s clothes,” Oshinowo explains. This has affected local economies and is becoming an ecological issue as discarded textiles – and car parts – increase in the continent’s landfills. “The irony is that people do such interesting things with this waste.” While some of these waste products are recycled within their genre of use, other times they are readapted to create a whole new function. Car tyres, for example, play a big part in innovative furniture in Nigeria, with artists and designers giving discarded items a second life. Ugandan artist Bobby Kolade, for example, upcycles balls of second-hand clothing to create walls for houses.

The challenge here – and there are many – is convincing high-end clients that working with local materials and upcycling can produce comparable results to importing said materials from overseas, but Oshinowo is hopeful that with the right approach, the narrative can be changed. She cites Indian architect Vinu Daniel, founder of Wallmakers, who is building high-end residential projects using traditional techniques and eco-friendly materials such as clay. “It just goes to show that if architects and designers start to make a different way of seeing things attractive and aspirations, you would be surprised who will follow you down that road,” says Oshinowo. It is one thing to create this type of architecture because the planet requires it, but one must also make it attractive to a client, she adds. “We must be honest. Particularly as architects, we are providing a professional service that someone must pay for. We don’t have the luxury – as artists do – to produce work and that people then engage with. We are indirect salespeople, and we have to make it aspirational. And if we can do that then we are on the way to ensuring that these are the things that can become part of everyday life.”

To create an exhibition that is more diverse and gives voice to a larger pool of practitioners, Oshinowo has selected an advisory board of international architects who will help broaden the scope. I am very familiar with people within the African continent who are doing interesting work, but I was very aware that there was a limit to my knowledge of people who potentially could contribute to this theme from regions that I am not familiar with,” she says. It includes Hoor Al Qasimi, President of Sharjah Architecture Triennial and President & Director of Sharjah Art Foundation; Beatrice Galilee, co-Founder and executive director of The World Around; Mariam Kamara, founder of Atelier Masomi in Niger; Rahul Mehrotra, founder of RMA Architects of Mumbai British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA; and Brazilian architect and urbanist Paulo Tavares.

I am very optimistic that, because of the advisory board, I’m really going to have a great, intense mix of people, that people haven’t seen [or may not know about],” says Oshinowo. The architect’s aim is to create an exhibition that is accessible to all and one that will hopefully make a future impact.

“I am not trying to answer any questions, but I am hoping that it will help us all think differently about how we approach our practices, how we approach climate change and have some type of long-term influence in how we generally do things,” she says. “The point is that we can inclusively look for solutions.”

Photography by Bashar Belal @basharbelal

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Dr. Amin Alsaden (PhD, architectural history, Harvard University) has been appointed the Director of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, the first major platform dedicated to architecture and urbanism in the Middle East, East and North Africa, and South Asia. He will work with the Triennial’s curators to realise their projects, which includes combatting regional clichés. Alsaden commented: “One of our ambitions for the Triennial is that it serves as a critical forum for similar re-evaluations, and for reflection on the complex and at times dissonant dimensions of our experience of the built environment today.”

sharjaharchitecture.org

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