Internationally known South African architect to deliver Bawa Memorial Lecture
The 2021 Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture will be delivered by South African architect Sumayya Vally – principal architect of the inter-disciplinary architectural studio Counterspace on Thursday, May 12, at the Bawa-designed Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, Colombo 7 at 6.30 p.m.
The annual event organised by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust coincides with Bawa’s birth anniversary.
Sumayya Vally named in 2021 on the TIME Magazine’s 100 Next list as a young leader primed to shape the future is presently based in Johannesburg and London. She was the lead designer for the Serpentine Pavilion 2020/1, the youngest architect ever to receive this prestigious commission.
Her work centring around narrative, identity and memory in Johannesburg has led her into a host of conceptual and investigatory projects, including a position as assistant curator and film producer for La Biennale di Venezia 2014 (South African Pavilion). Sumayya was recently a finalist (top 3) for the Civitella Ranieri Foundation architecture residency prize (2019) and the Rolex Mentorship and Protege award (2018/2019). Alongside Saad Al-Rashid, Omniya Abdel Barr
and Julian Raby, Sumayya will be a curator of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale to be held in Jeddah in 2023.
Sumayya’s design, research and pedagogical practice are committed to finding expression for hybrid identities and contested territories.
Admission to the lecture is free. However only limited seats are available and prior registration is required.
Please visit geoffreybawa.com/ memorial-lectures to register.
This lecture is supported by the exclusive media partners Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times and radio partners TNL Now and Lite 87.