“The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has commissioned the artist, scholar and choreographer Adesola Akinleye to create a series of new video artworks inspired by the work of Sir David Adjaye, OBE as part of the 2021 Royal Gold Medal celebrations. The videos are now available to watch on the RIBA YouTube channel.“

These pieces respond to a prevalent theme throughout Adjaye’s practice, that of memory, through videos that convey how memories of specific places keep us connected to the sites that we have been physically separated from during the pandemic. The videos invite viewers to be fully present in a cathartic experience that will temporarily take you outside of yourself to share in a multilayered assemblage of memories.

In the films I recollect a number of Adjaye’s pieces that remain important to me personally and therefore form part of my identity despite their distance from the location I might be in. (During the making of the films I had Long Covid and was confined to one room). I remember the presence of my body in different places and convey this through a layering of imagery, movement and sound that playfully celebrates the glitch in the Zoom background algorithm. Shot entirely at home, I reflect on the past year of isolation within the confines of our domestic interiors, and suggest recognising shared experiences of specific buildings can form a collective memory that holds us together as a society.

About the Royal Gold Medal
The Royal Gold Medal has been awarded annually since 1848 and is recognized as the UK’s highest honour for architecture. The award is approved personally by the Monarch of Britain and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.” The 2021 recipient of the award is Sir David Adjaye OBE.