“For almost the first time in my life, words fail me.” Ghanaian-Scottish architect and novelist Lesley Lokko took the opportunity of a morning press conference to discuss an unfortunate incident overshadowing the opening of the 18^th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Three men from Ghana, collaborators of Lokko, curator of this year’s exhibition, were denied entry into Italy. According to Lokko, authorities suspected these men would stay in Italy after the expiration of their visas, but no explanation was offered. 

In a news report published in the lead-up to the opening, Daniela D'Orlandi, the Italian ambassador to Ghana, told Building Design that the three men, who had been working closely with Lokko for nearly two years as part of a larger team of six Accra-based collaborators, failed to meet the requirements permitting entry to the European Union’s Schengen Area. Lokko elaborated in a statement widely shared on Twitter that “the Biennale have done everything they possibly can to assist, but to no avail,” adding that Biennale president Roberto Cicutto and general manager Andrea del Mercato have been “magnificent and tireless” but, in the end, were unable to “sway an ambitious career diplomat looking to make her mark with a right-wing government.”