With group exhibitions from Creative Design City Nagoya, Vienna Design Week, Premsela – the Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion, Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design, the City of Poznan and more, DMY drew an international crowd this year. One the strongest and smallest presentations came from Mexico, a country from which we’re starting to see a slow but steady stream of new designs from with refreshing interpretations of the national heritage and artisan traditions.
DicenJalisco, a Mexican promotional council based out of Jalisco, asked Juan Ignacio Michel, the Director of IMD Industrial Design, to curate the group show for DMY. He selected five designers: Arcelia Alamguer, Ignacio Ruiz, Laura Noriega, Studio Victoria and Ismael Rodriguez of NeoCraft, a collective of local designers whose focus is marrying time-honored Mexican craftsmanship with new design trends.
Atlante, a series of desk accessories designed by _mono and Luis Jimenez is a good example NeoCraft’s credo. It may look a bit like a tourist shop knick knack in this photo, but in person the five and a half pounds of basaltic stone gives it a heft and lends a new legitimacy to paper clip holders and pencil cups. Arcelia Almaguer added some color to the exhibition with the bright balls of yarn spilling over her collection of crocheted baskets. Made with extra thick yarn, these malleable, imperfect forms have a unique, tactile quality.
NeoCraft may just be getting their start, but Studio Victoria has been around for nearly seventy years. Based out of Guadalajara, they still make their beautiful floor tiles by hand, using traditional encaustic. Unlike most of the designers a DMY, Studio Victoria fulfills large commercial and contract work, and can even do custom jobs with your own designs.
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