ExhibitionNovember 19, 2023
MoMA Presents Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940 – 1980
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) announces the exhibition Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940 - 1980 from March 8 to September 22, 2024.
The exhibition will feature the diverse proposals of modernity by designers of home environments in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela between 1940 and 1980. Some designers approached their work from local and indigenous craft traditions, combining centuries-old techniques and machine methods. Others responded to market conditions and local preferences, making objects based on the technology and industrial processes available at the time.
The home became a place of experimentation for design in an era marked by political, economic and social changes that had repercussions on Latin American visual culture. For this reason, design around the domestic materialized ideas of nationalism, production models and modern lifestyles. It also offered dialogues between art, architecture and design. The exhibition includes furniture, appliances, textiles, ceramics, photographs and paintings. Some of the highlights include: the Butaque chair by Clara Porset; the Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi; the B.K.F. chair by Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy; and the Malitte Lounge furniture by Roberto Matta.
"Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940 - 1980" was organized by Ana Elena Mallet, guest curator, with Amanda Forment, assistant curator in MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design.
The exhibition will feature the diverse proposals of modernity by designers of home environments in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela between 1940 and 1980. Some designers approached their work from local and indigenous craft traditions, combining centuries-old techniques and machine methods. Others responded to market conditions and local preferences, making objects based on the technology and industrial processes available at the time.
The home became a place of experimentation for design in an era marked by political, economic and social changes that had repercussions on Latin American visual culture. For this reason, design around the domestic materialized ideas of nationalism, production models and modern lifestyles. It also offered dialogues between art, architecture and design. The exhibition includes furniture, appliances, textiles, ceramics, photographs and paintings. Some of the highlights include: the Butaque chair by Clara Porset; the Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi; the B.K.F. chair by Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy; and the Malitte Lounge furniture by Roberto Matta.
"Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940 - 1980" was organized by Ana Elena Mallet, guest curator, with Amanda Forment, assistant curator in MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design.
