exico will be the next featured country in the museum of modern art (moma) design stores Destination: Design series. available from april through June at all moma design store locations and websites, the Destination: Mexico collection features 150 lifestyle products by over 60 emerging mexican designers, including home accessories, furniture, paper goods and jewelry. Destination: Mexico is the result of a joint initiative by moma, the mexican embassy in the us and Promxico to promote mexican creative industries. also supported by centro university of design, film and television, Destination: Mexico will provide an important platform for the promotion and marketing of products by mexican designers.
moma started the Destination: Design program in 2005, inviting object designers and artists of items from furniture and lighting, home accessories to printed material, stationery, jewelry and watches, personal accessories, games and childrens items to present and market their products in the museums prestigious stores. in previous editions, moma has invited various countries and cities including Portugal, south Korea, berlin, Japan and turkey. this unique opportunity for mexican design arises from the success of Rethinking Tradition: Contemporary Design from Mexico, an exhibition curated by ana elena mallet and shown in the mexican cultural institute in Washington, dc, from June to november 2010. after a visit by momas marketing executives, the mexi-
can embassy and momas team agreed to dedicate the 10th edition of Destination: Design to mexico. In a first stage, ProMxico, together with centro university launched a comprehensive invitation to design talent from all around the country. Centro Univeristy identified and proposed more than 500 products by close to 300 designers from which moma selected a total of 150 pieces by 62 designers. nevertheless, a catalogue that will be distributed by mexican embassies worldwide and will be available at moma design stores, will include the 500 products. moreover, moma will include the best-selling pieces of Destination: Mexico in its permanent catalogue. the products are rarely available outside of mexico and are primarily exclusive to moma design stores. the selection celebrates mexicos design heritage, including its bold colors, pop culture iconography and ceramic innovation. We are so impressed by the depth of talent among mexicos emerging designers, said Kathy thornton-bias, president of momas retail division. not only are we seeing innovative products crafted from unique materials, we are also inspired by these designers passion for creating new, contemporary visions of classic mexican themes. more so than in past Destination: Design projects, we are fostering a strong
sense of community engagement in mexico that informs many aspects of the process, thornton-bias said. for example, our creative team collaborated with students from mexico citys centro university of design, film and television to develop a visual identity for Destination: Mexicos displays and signage, online graphics and collateral materials. Products that focus on a positive environmental and social impact such as items made of local, recycled and organic materials, or produced by collectives that create employment opportunities in small, rural villages are also an important part of the collection. momas selection includes pieces such as a pre-columbian-style pitcher rendered in polyester resin, a chair woven with ancient mayan techniques that uses zinc-galvanized PVc string, an everyday market bag reimagined as a ceramic fruit bowl, and a handmade and handpainted table inspired by colorful toys. Products will also be available at the stores of several mexican museums, like mexico citys university museum of contemporary art (muac), as well as dolores Olmedo, franz meyer and soumaya museums, monterreys museum of contemporary art (marcO) and Oaxacas museum of contemporary art.
www.momastore.org
Alejandra Antn
Conciencitas Earrings
Iguana 4 Studio
Wood Coasters
Yolanda Resendez
Paper Strips Bowl
Anonymous Design
Acapulco Chair
Emiliano Godoy
Bowl Glass Canasta AQUA
Yolanda Resendez
Paper Strips Vase
Liliana Ovalle
Trivet Flame