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Vision and Tradition

Vision and Tradition

Design Week Mexico

Exhibition

-> Oct 8 2024 – Nov 3 2024

As part of Design Week Mexico 2024, the National Museum of Anthropology presents Vision and Tradition.

Vision and Tradition, the residency program of Design Week Mexico, brings together designers and artisans in a unique experience. In this edition, Aguascalientes is the guest state and Colombia the guest country, allowing for an exciting cultural exchange between designers and artisans from Mexico, Aguascalientes, and Colombia. The result of this exceptional collaboration is exhibited in the iconic crescent of the National Museum of Anthropology.

This program offers an enriching space where ancestral traditions and techniques merge with contemporary vision, giving life to unique and captivating pieces that reflect the cultural richness and creative talent of Mexico and the Guest Country.

The realization of Vision and Tradition is possible thanks to the valuable support of the National Museum of Anthropology and the solidarity of Arte y Cultura del Centro Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego. The collaboration with Aguascalientes was in alliance with the Government of the State of Aguascalientes, the Institute of Culture of Aguascalientes, the Bureau of Congresses and Visitors, and the Municipal Culture Funds AGS. The collaboration with Colombia was thanks to the support of the Gómez & Tamayo Foundation, ENSŌ, and Sura Colombia.

The working sessions of Vision & Tradition will be held in the first week of August 2024 in various municipalities of the State of Aguascalientes. A delegation composed of 12 young architects and designers from Mexico and Colombia will travel to Aguascalientes to collaborate with a group of 12 artisans and master craftsmen from various fields of artisanal creation.

Since its inception, Design Week Mexico has had the mission of promoting Mexican design through dialogue with the creative and cultural industries of other countries. Colombia and Aguascalientes, as the Guest Country and Guest State, respectively, offer a great opportunity to create a dialogue between cutting-edge design and craftsmanship, a cultural and artistic heritage of our country. In a world increasingly threatened by standardization and globalization, we have the responsibility not to forget our culture, to remember where we come from, and not to let traditions be lost, to create responsible, honest design in line with the historical time we are living in.

Through this laboratory of ideas and participatory exchanges, artisans and designers will work together to experiment with new designs, colors, the interaction of techniques, materials, tools, and processes. Without losing the essence and beauty of their work, they will collaborate to expand and update their production in the short, medium, and long term, creating innovative pieces both within and outside our country. In this process, both artisans and designers will learn from each other, mutually enriching their future projects.

Visiting the artisans' workshops, coexisting, and holding working sessions result in each piece being a product of the sensitization of the participants' work. Working together in an atmosphere of absolute respect and feedback, the design philosophies merge, resulting in the creation of unique pieces.

Understanding the State of Aguascalientes through the richness of its culture, history, art, geography, customs, and translating it through contemporary design is what this project embodies. Recognizing that when there is will and passion for what we do, there are no barriers preventing us from communicating, working as a team, in harmony, and dreaming of designing a better world.

—Design Week Mexico