The new season of Disseny Hub Barcelona is marked by its commitment to the vindication of women in its exhibition proposal. Proof of this is the first exhibition of the season, Som aquí! Les dones en el disseny. 1900 - avui, an exhibition that recovers and vindicates the role of women designers since the last century, with the aim of rewriting the official histories of these disciplines in Spain.
Produced by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein (Germany) and expanded by the DHub, it aims to be an unconventional and innovative exhibition, mixing big names in design with other lesser-known proposals, including groups and figures of social activists, and the mark they left and continue to leave in their wake, despite, in many cases, having been in the shadows.
Built from objects created by women in different areas of design ---furniture, lighting, graphic design, jewelry or ceramics---, it forms a critical study on the successes and working conditions of women who have dedicated themselves to the world of design from the beginning of the modern movement to the present day.
The DHub offers an exhibition that recovers and vindicates the role of women designers since the last centuryThe most attractive thing about this exhibition is the research project carried out by the curators and members of the Museum's Collections team, Teresa Bastardes, Isabel Cendoya, and Isabel Fernández del Moral. Se ha centered into analyzing the social and political particularities of Spain during the 20th century, marked by the Civil War and the dictatorship ---which meant the repression of the role of women, as well as a break with modernity--- and its reactivation during the 80s which, likewise, remained invisible.
During the investigation, which involved thoroughly reviewing the museum's collection, the names of many designers came to light: some, hidden behind a preeminently male team or behind their husbands; others who, despite having worked for decades, had done so discreetly, and the most fortunate, recognized women who had not been given enough attention.
As often happens in female environments, approaching these designers and interviewing them has helped the curators to reach other designers and to locate pieces that did not belong to the museum's collection. In this sense, the investigation has also served to increase the heritage of the collection of this cultural center of the city, which will surely lead to the production of new exhibitions as attractive as this one.
During the investigation, which involved thoroughly reviewing the museum's collection, the names of a large number of designers came to lightArticulated in six areas, the exhibition travels from 1900 to the present day, in a chronological journey that contextualizes the designs of these women, their evolution and their practical application, as well as their relationship with the male environment and its influence. From the origin of suffragist flags and insignias, through the success of the commercialization of tupperware, up to world-renowned designers and architects like Neri Oxman or Patricia Urquiola.
But if it is worth investing a good amount of time in our visit, it is in the areas closest to us, such as the one focused on the research of the Museu del Disseny and the history of the 56 female designers from our country, with very different professional profiles, who were an active part of social change. Such is the will of the museum, which aims to keep research active to recognize all these pioneers.
Even so, there is an essential and obligatory block that, from my humble point of view, justifies the entire exhibition, and that is the one dedicated to women's things, everyone's things, as they wanted to call it. In it, it is analyzed whether design is contributing enough to include women as subjects of its creations, providing solutions to female needs, through some thirty projects that, whether from art or design, claim realities specifically linked to women and which, often, are also topics considered taboo, hidden or trivialized.
The final result of this research project is not the exhibition as such, but the exhibition constitutes only the beginning of the same research in this field. It has begun by making visible those pioneers who paved the way for current designers, as well as by giving them a voice and a deserved space in the history of design, in addition to giving visibility to issues that directly affect women, so that they are taken into account.
The exhibition, which can be seen at DHub until January 7, 2024, also has a series of parallel activities for all audiences that will take place between October and December, such as talks, colloquiums, conferences, workshops, family activities and a podcast, as well as a wikimarathon, a research project and a community project.