In conjunction with the exhibition Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940-1980, this three-part series of conversations among Latin American scholars is intended to highlight new research, amplify complexities, and strengthen networks of scholarship and fellowship among creative circles interested in art, architecture, and design.
In this session, scholar Jorge Rivas and curator Ana Elena Mallet will introduce the key questions and complexities raised by the exhibition and discuss craft as an act of resistance in Venezuela and Mexico. This conversation will be moderated by Amanda Forment, curatorial assistant in the Department of Architecture and Design.
Registration
Register for Crafting Modernity Networks, Part 1, on Wednesday, August 28, online via Zoom.
Speakers
Amanda Forment is a curatorial assistant in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. She specializes in modern design, contributing to special exhibitions and working with the collection. She recently co-curated the exhibition Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980, which is currently on view. Previously, she worked in the contemporary design department at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Forment holds a master’s degree in history of design and curatorial studies from Parsons School of Design, and has also worked at the New-York Historical Society and the Jewish Museum.
Ana Elena Mallet, a Mexico City–based curator specializing in modern and contemporary design, is currently a distinguished professor at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Since April 2021, she has served on the Acquisitions Committee for MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. With extensive experience advising museums and university collections globally, including M+ in Hong Kong, the Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA, Mallet has also held key roles such as curator at Museo Soumaya and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, and chief curator at the Museo del Objeto del Objeto (MODO). She has curated exhibitions internationally, and authored books including La Vida en el Arte: Writings by Clara Porset (2020) and Silla Mexicana (2017). Recently, she curated exhibitions at Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) and Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City, and co-curated Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980 at MoMA.
Jorge F. Rivas Pérez, PhD, is the Saint Louis Art Museum’s inaugural Emily Rauh Pulitzer Deputy Director and Chief Curator. Prior to this he was the Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art and department head at the Denver Art Museum, where he focused on reimagining the Latin American art department and reinstalling the permanent collection galleries. He previously served as the curator of Spanish Colonial art at the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in Venezuela, and as the associate curator of Latin American art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His recent curatorial projects include The Light Show, ReVisión: Art in the Americas, The Skeletal World of José Guadalupe Posada, and Have a Seat: Mexican Chair Design Today. He is the Latin American art editor and organizer of the Mayer Center Symposium program and publications, and has contributed essays to publications on a wide range of Latin American art, design, decorative arts, architecture, and material culture topics. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and received a degree in architecture from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, an MA from the University of Florence, Italy, and an MA and PhD from the Bard Graduate Center in New York City.
Accessibility
CART captioning will be available and American Sign Language (ASL) is available for public programs upon request with two weeks’ advance notice. MoMA will make every effort to provide accommodation for requests made with less than two weeks’ notice. Please contact [email protected] to make a request for these accommodations.
The Adobe Foundation is proud to support equity, learning, and creativity at MoMA.
Access and Community Programs are supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Major funding is provided by Volkswagen of America, the Agnes Gund Education Endowment Fund for Public Programs, The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art Endowment for Educational Programs, the Jeanne Thayer Young Scholars Fund, and the Annual Education Fund.