Page 210 - The 60.Venice Biennial & MoMA issue of WOA Contemporary Art magazine

WORLD-CLASS ART

CRAFTING MODERNITY:
DESIGN IN LATIN AMERICA

1940–1980 WILL PRESENT HIGHLIGHTS OF MODERN DOMESTIC
DESIGN FROM ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, COLOMBIA, MEXICO,
AND VENEZUELA

Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980, the
first exhibition by a major American museum to examine
modern design in the region on a broad scale. On view from
March 8 through September 22, 2024, the exhibition will
focus on six countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Antonio Bonet (Spanish, 1913–1989), Juan Kurchan (Argentine, 1913–1975), Jorge Ferrari
Mexico, and Venezuela - that spearheaded the development
Hardoy (Argentine, 1914–1977). BKF Chair. 1938. Painted wrought-iron rod and leather,
of modern domestic design in Latin America. Through more Overall: 34 3/8 x 32 3/4 x 29 3/4" (87.3 x 83.2 x 75.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art,
than 100 objects, including furniture, graphic design, textiles, New York. Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. background
ceramics, and photography, drawn from MoMA’s collection
and from public and private collections across the US, Latin America, and Europe, the exhibition will demonstrate how
the field of design in Latin America provides a valuable
Lina Bo Bardi (Brazilian, born Italy. 1914–1992). Bowl Chair . 1951. Steel and fabric, 21 5/8 × platform for examining and understanding larger political,
33 1/16 × 33 1/16" (55 × 84 × 84 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Committee
on Architecture and Design Funds social, and cultural transformations in the region. Crafting
Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980 is organized
by Ana Elena Mallet, guest curator, with Amanda Forment,
Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design,
The Museum of Modern Art.
The exhibition focuses on the postwar era in Latin America,
a period of dramatic transformations characterized by great
economic growth and rapid modernization. In the 1940s, as
World War II raged in Europe, countries in this region replaced
goods that had traditionally been imported with domestically
produced products. These readily available materials led to the
exponential rise of national industries, generating professional
opportunities for local designers. By the late 1970s, a series
of economic crises echoed throughout the region, marking
the end of an era of developmentalism in Latin America,
when it was widely believed to be the state's role to promote
modernization and to foster a strong internal market for
domestic goods.
“With this exhibition, we hope to introduce audiences to the
ways in which the field of design in Latin America, especially
design for the domestic sphere, reflects the multivalent and
complex visions of modernity taking place in the region,” said
Ana Elena Mallet. “Through the study of objects, material
culture, and other forms of expression, a more nuanced vision

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