Esra Akcan Compares Venice Architecture Biennale and Louvre Abu Dhabi

In her article for ARTMargins Online, Esra Akcan conducts a comparative analysis of the 14th International Architecture Biennale of Venice, overseen by Rem Koolhaas, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi's pilot exhibit designed by Jean Nouvel. Akcan categorizes the curatorial strategies in the Biennale's Fundamentals and Absorbing Modernity sections as curator-as-author and curators-as-chorus, respectively. She connects these approaches to contemporary historiographical and museum design trends, including those at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, to explore their geopolitical ramifications. From the Absorbing Modernity section's curators-as-chorus method, she outlines six perspectives for presenting architectural history and advocates for a geopolitically aware cosmopolitan history that highlights the links between modernism, colonization, and persistent global inequalities.