56 Negocios I the lifestyle logos COurtEsy OF MoMA DEsIGn stOrE

m exico will be the next featured country in the museum of mod-ern art (moma) de-sign store’s Destina-

tion: 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 mexi-can designers, including home accesso-ries, furniture, paper goods and jewelry.

Destination: Mexico is the result of a joint initiative by moma, the mexican embassy in the us and Proméxico to promote mexican creative industries. also supported by centro university of design, film and television, Destination: Mexico will provide an important plat-form for the promotion and marketing of products by mexican designers.

moma started the Destination: De-sign program in 2005, inviting object designers and artists –of items from fur-niture and lighting, home accessories to printed material, stationery, jewelry and watches, personal accessories, games and children’s items– to present and market their products in the museum’s prestigious stores.

in previous editions, moma has in-vited various countries and cities includ-ing Portugal, south Korea, berlin, Japan and turkey.

this unique opportunity for mexican design arises from the success of Rethink-ing Tradition: Contemporary Design from Mexico, an exhibition curated by ana ele-na mallet and shown in the mexican cul-tural institute in Washington, dc, from June to november 2010. after a visit by moma’s marketing executives, the mexi-

can embassy and moma’s team agreed to dedicate the 10th edition of Destination: Design to mexico.

In a first stage, ProMéxico, together with centro university launched a com-prehensive invitation to design talent from all around the country.

Centro Univeristy identified and pro-posed more than 500 products by close to 300 designers from which moma se-lected a total of 150 pieces by 62 design-ers. nevertheless, a catalogue that will be distributed by mexican embassies worldwide and will be available at moma design stores, will include the 500 prod-ucts. moreover, moma will include the best-selling pieces of Destination: Mexico in its permanent catalogue.

the products are rarely available out-side of mexico and are primarily exclusive to moma design stores. the selection celebrates mexico’s design heritage, in-cluding its bold colors, pop culture ico-nography and ceramic innovation.

“We are so impressed by the depth of talent among mexico’s emerging design-ers,” said Kathy thornton-bias, president of moma’s retail division. “not only are we seeing innovative products crafted from unique materials, we are also in-spired by these designers’ passion for cre-ating new, contemporary visions of classic mexican themes.”

“more so than in past Destination: De-sign projects, we are fostering a strong

sense of community engagement in mexico that informs many aspects of the process,” thornton-bias said. “for ex-ample, our creative team collaborated with students from mexico city’s centro university of design, film and television to develop a visual identity for Destina-tion: Mexico’s displays and signage, online graphics and collateral materials.”

Products that focus on a positive en-vironmental and social impact –such as items made of local, recycled and organ-ic materials, or produced by collectives that create employment opportunities in small, rural villages– are also an impor-tant part of the collection.

moma’s selection includes pieces such as a pre-columbian-style pitcher ren-dered 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 city’s university museum of con-temporary art (muac), as well as dolo-res Olmedo, franz meyer and soumaya museums, monterrey’s museum of con-temporary art (marcO) and Oaxaca’s museum of contemporary art.

www.momastore.org

Isabel Rodríguez MartínezBag Tote

Paulina González-Ortega &Amaya Gutiérrez

Toy Inspired Table

62 Negocios I the lifestyle

cATch A gLiMpsE of MExicAN dEsigNDesTiNATioN: Mexico Will feature 150 pieces from more than 60 designers Who Work in mexico. here is a sample of What visitors and Buyers Will see in the moma design stores in neW york, Japan, korea and at the museum’s online store, from april to June 2012.

Anonymous DesignAcapulco Chair

Yolanda ResendezPaper Strips Bowl

Iguana 4 StudioWood Coasters

Alejandra AntónConciencitas Earrings

Mauricio Lara EguiluzPencil Holder

Photos COurtEsy OF MOMA DEsIGn stOrE

Juan Sebastián BeltránFruit Bag Bowl

Liliana OvalleTrivet Flame

Ana Gómez and Alberta MateosTripod Cochinito Bowls

Yolanda ResendezPaper Strips Vase

Paulina González-Ortega & Amaya Gutiérrez

Toy Inspired Coat Hanger

Mauricio & Sebastián LaraSombrero Dish

Emiliano GodoyBowl Glass Canasta AQUA

Luciana Corres TamezSilver-Knitted Flower Necklace

tHe liFestyle Feature destination: mexico