| August 30, 2026
MoMA examines how modern architecture shaped independence in Western AfricaThe Museum of Modern Art in New York is presenting Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa, a major exhibition devoted to the relationship between modern architecture and political self-determination from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. The exhibition remains on view through January 2, 2027.
The project spans Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. It looks at the period when newly independent countries used architecture to articulate progressive, cosmopolitan identities and to engage with the ideas of Pan-Africanism and Africanization.
Approximately 400 objects—including architectural drawings, models, archival photographs, newly commissioned photographs, and films—are organized around themes such as cityscapes, education, and housing. MoMA notes that many of these materials are being shown publicly for the first time, and the exhibition gives particular attention to the first generation of professionally trained African architects.
Among the buildings represented is the Centre International du Commerce Extérieur du Sénégal (CICES) in Dakar, designed by Jean-François Lamoureux and Jean Louis Marin. The exhibition places such projects within the cultural optimism and design experimentation that followed independence, while also asking how built form helped nations imagine their futures.
The exhibition is organized by Martino Stierli, MoMA’s chief curator of Architecture and Design, and guest curator Ikem Stanley Okoye, with Mallory Cohen.
Sources: MoMA exhibition page; MoMA press materials. |
