At Design Week República Dominicana, Galerie Philia highlight Latin American design

At Design Week República Dominicana, contemporary design from Latin America goes under the spotlight, with a curation by Galerie Philia staged at landmark location the Monumento a Fray Antonio de Montesino.

Design Week República Dominicana: Galerie Philia presents Montesino

Galeria Philia’s exhibition, Montesino, unites 28 pieces created by 12 designers, artists and studios from Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Artists respond to the significance of the location - which was a gift from the Mexican government to the people of the Dominican Republic - by interpreting their own commitment to preserving the country’s heritage of craft. 

The relationship between Mexico and the Dominican Republic is considered by collectives including stoneware workshop Casa Alfarera Santo Domingo. Founder, ceramicist Ysabela Molini, leads a team of Dominican potters and artisans in creating custom pieces which preserve the traditions of pottery. For Argentinian designer Cristián Mohaded, work is imbued with a functionality, with his boldly drawn lamp drawing small spheres in gleaming white onyx. Mexican multidisciplinary design studio Acoocooro also looks to the quotidian, rethinking the materiality of a chair with a creation sand-casted in bronze. Ries Estudio’s stool in travertine cuts a simpler silhouette, focusing on the purity of the material, as does Mexican artist Andrés Monnier’s furniture and Daniel Orozco Estudio’s designs in natural textiles, marble and wood. 

For Mexico City-based Comité de Proyectos, utilitarian objects become rife with emotion, with their bar cabinet in solid Huanacaxtle wood paying tribute to the bravery of the Zapatista, indigenous women of Chiapas, while Peru-based Estudio Rafferyre consider Peruvian artistic practices in their intricate textile compositions. Mexican/French artist Alina Rotzinger also sees no reason for function to get in the way of beauty, with a series of carefully considered lamps in chechen wood emphasising an elegant aestheticism. Spanish artist Manu Bañó leans towards the offbeat with a lounge chair and coffee table; crafted in copper, they appear to ripple and undulate, taking on a life of their own. 

Montesino takes place 13 - 19 March at Santo Domingo 10210, Dominican Republic

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