Paula Nascimento

Architect and curator, Luanda

Paula Nascimento is an architect who trained at the Architectural Association in London and London South Bank University. In 2013 she co-curated with Stefano Rabolli Pansera the inaugural Angolan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which won the Golden Lion with a display of works by Edson Chagas – the first African pavilion to do so. The pavilion was part of a wider research project titled ‘Beyond Entropy Africa’ (2010–15), which focused on the city of Luanda as a paradigm of poor urban conditions due to its high-density population and lack of essential infrastructure.

Nascimento also lectures and writes and has curated or co-curated exhibitions in Angola, South Africa, Portugal, Italy and France – including the Africa in Focus sections at Arco Lisbon in both 2019 and 2020. She is a guest curator of the Catchupa Factory residency for photographers from Portuguese-speaking Africa in Cape Verde, and she was a founding member of the Colectivo Pés Descalços, a non-profit organisation developing cultural and educational projects in Luanda. Her recent architectural projects include the Angola Pavilion for Expo Milano in 2015.

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