“SUPER LIMBO” is a public architecture and art pavilion that stands as an eloquent response to the many incomplete and unfinished building projects in the Global South through the occupation of Sharjah Mall. With approximately 64,753 m2 of retail, entertainment, and culinary spaces, Sharjah Mall stands as one of the emirate's largest unfinished building projects. This vast area stands in stark contrast to the city's developed landscape, and it is within this labyrinth of liminality that “SUPER LIMBO” emerges, aiming to reshape the narrative of this space. Limbo Accra’s mission is to transform this structure into a symbol of abundance, reversing the stigma associated with unfinished spaces and celebrating their untapped potential.
Drawing on the significance of storytelling in desert cultures spanning West Africa to the Middle East, and its ability to invoke imagery, the pavilion is soft yet impactful. Spatial software consisting of yards of draped fabric, designed in partnership with Anne-Lise Agossa and Rym Beydoun, founder of Ivorian fashion label Super Yaya, invites visitors to partake in this world-building exercise. As in the ‘mushaira’, a space where poetry and stories actively live, the pavilion becomes a collaborative exercise with visitors, empowering them to create their own stories and develop a unique relationship with the shell of Sharjah Mall. Beyond the triennial, the pavilion and the story it tells will live on — the curtains of fabric woven from bands will be repurposed into cherished objects.
