Guabuliga Gallery

A one-week intervention in northern Ghana, the Guabuliga Gallery reimagined an empty village shop as a space for dialogue, exhibition, and gathering. Located at the heart of Guabuliga, the project shared ongoing design research with the local community—ranging from a participatory village growth plan to water access strategies and narrative mappings.

Each day explored a new theme, with the gallery walls filled by drawings from fifty local children, developed during a water and sanitation workshop. As the village returned from the fields each afternoon, the gallery space activated—hosting film screenings, discussions, and shared meals. One evening featured an Austrian food night; another ended in a village party with music and food sourced locally.

What began as a small structure transformed into a social anchor for a week, offering an inclusive platform that extended beyond formal collaborations with chiefs or committees. It was a way of testing how architecture—however temporary—could make space for collective reflection.

Part of the Research Lab Guabuliga — Well by the Thorn Tree

Credits: Baerbel Mueller, Juergen Strohmayer (co-curators) / Year: 2013 / Affiliation: [Applied] Foreign Affairs, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna