Cape Town, 16 May 2008 – Iziko South African National Gallery hosts ‘Pancho Guedes: An Alternative Modernist’, an exhibition of the iconic architect’s work, at the Iziko South African National Gallery, from 22 May to 31 August 2008.

In addition to being described as ‘alternative modernism’ with international links, Pancho Guedes’ work draws on traditional African skills and motifs. Now eighty-three years old, he has been prolific in terms of output and diversity, in Africa and internationally. Born in Portugal, Pancho moved to Mozambique as a child and studied in Johannesburg, obtaining his architectural degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He returned to Wits in 1975 and was Head of the Department of Architecture until 1990.

Despite working in the peripheral contexts of southern Africa, Pancho’s work captured the attention of the European avant-garde and he became an active member of the dissident modernist Team 10. He represented Portugal at the Biennale di Venezia in 1976 and 2006. Twenty-five years after the Architectural Association of London show of his work, an exhibition entitled ‘Pancho Guedes – An Alternative Modernist’ was commissioned and produced by the Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel in 2007. Curated by Pedro Gadanho, this exhibition focussed on the period of nearly twenty-five years that he was active in Mozambique and his extraordinary achievements involving over 500 projects.

Pancho’s capacity to seamlessly bring together Europe and Africa, art and architecture, dream and reality are revealed and further explored in the newly curated component that introduces work created mostly in South Africa, after April 1974, and which remains largely unpublished and little known. Curated by architects Henning Rasmuss and Dagmar Hoetzel, in consultation with the architect, it is separate yet conceptually linked to the S AM show.

At a time when little attention was paid to the aesthetic production of Africa, Pancho was a promoter and supporter of vernacular architecture and African artists, notably Malangatana Valente and Tito Zungu, yet his work has never been shown in either Mozambique or South Africa, the two countries where his architecture exerted enormous influence. The exhibitions in Cape Town and Johannesburg are made possible through sponsorship by Instituto Camões in Portugal, Arup, the Cement and Concrete Institute of South Africa, Business Arts South Africa, Grand West Cultural Heritage Trust, as well as various businesses, architectural practices and individuals.

It is a rare privilege for Iziko South African National Gallery to host a full retrospective of Pancho Guedes’ oeuvre, to share it with students and learners through extensive education programmes, lectures and publications and to inspire new generations of architects who most certainly have heard the name, but may no longer know what his architecture embraced and encompassed. The lessons to be learned from Pancho in so many fields of endeavour and creativity will no doubt enhance a built environment sorely in need of excellence.

The Iziko South African National Gallery is open daily except Monday from 10:00-17:00. Enquiries: 021 467 4660.

Image captions:

• Portrait of an egg-head contemplating the future
• Hotel Sao Martinho
• Smiling Lion inhabited section
• Hotel Castelo do Adoravel

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