The international traveling exhibition “Pure Gold – Upcycled! Upgraded!” is on display at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba. It features 76 objects designed by 53 designers of various nationalities, created using recycled or discarded materials. It focuses a new global generation of designers working in an ecologically and ethically sustainable manner, bringing together different approaches to the problem of waste disposal. Promoted by ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, it had a collaborative curatorship, led by Volker Albus, a professor at the University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany. Adélia Borges was the curator for Latin America. “Pure Gold” had already presentations in Hamburg (Germany), Bangkok (Thailand), Yangon (Burma), Hanoi (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines), London (United Kingdom), Barcelona (Spain), and Montevideo (Uruguay). From Curitiba it will go to Salvador (Brazil) in June 2026. More information: www.museuoscarniemeyer.org.br
The exhibition features 25 black-and-white photographs produced throughout the 1980s by photographer and film-maker Celso Brandão on Ilha do Ferro, in the municipality of Pão de Açúcar, Alagoas. The images reveal the development of a mutual relationship between the photographer and residents of this village, home to a high concentration of artists, artisans, and designers. Curated by Carmen Lúcia Dantas and Cíntia Ribeiro, with curatorial consultancy by Adélia Borges, the exhibition will be on display at Galeria Cabra, on Ilha do Ferro, until November 22. Production: Pirambeba Lab, Perereca de Brejo. More information on the Instagram profiles @casapirambeba and @cabrailhadoferro.
Crafting Modernity Networks series was organized in 2024 by The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA-NY) in conjunction with the exhibition Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940-1980, curated by Ana Elena Mallet and Amanda Forment. In September 4th Adelia Borges and Anna Burckhardt addressed the theme of Women Shaping Design in Brazil and Colombia. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0odmvl2-3NA.
The exhibition “Artifacts from the South – Legacies of German and Italian Immigration” celebrated Brazilian cultural plurality, by focusing design developed by European immigrants in southern Brazil. Furniture, work tools, construction elements, toys and household utensils made between the second half of the 19th century and the initial decades of the 20th century combine the memories, customs and techniques brought by immigrants from their homeland, on the one hand, and the conditions and materials they found in their adopted land, on the other. In addition to the three-dimensional pieces, the story of immigration was told through old photos, religious images, postcards and graphic materials, revealing the social imaginary of the period. The works are part of the collection of Tina and Calito de Azevedo Moura, collected over the last five decades in South region of Brazil. The exhibition took place at Farol Santander Porto Alegre, curated by Adélia Borges. Find out more about this subject through the exhibition catalog (bilingual, access at https://www.adeliaborges.com/port/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cat%C3%A1logo-Artefatos-do-Sul.pdf) and the video prepared by Estúdio Preto e Branco with images from the collection, access at https://youtu.be/B6J0nqqhXr4?si=JmYfEdCxKMkKerxT
The catalog and audiobook for the exhibition “Design and Everyday Life in the Azevedo Moura Collection” are now available for public access. Curated by Adélia Borges, the exhibition celebrated Brazilian cultural diversity by focusing on the still little-known and under-analyzed design developed by European immigrants in southern Brazil. The 312-page catalog features texts by Paulo Garcez, Mário Mazzilli, Adélia Borges, Calito de Azevedo Moura, Vânia Carneiro de Carvalho, David Ribeiro, Günter Weimer, Paula Ramos, Denise Peixoto, and Nicole Palucci Marziale. The edition is by Museu Paulista, São Paulo.
A new season of podcasts about Japanese culture was carried out by Japan House São Paulo. This time the theme is Japanese design. Natasha Barzaghi Geenen, cultural director at Japan House, and Adélia Borges are the presenters. The eight episodes cover the following themes: 1. Spaces in Japanese design: from the obento to the capsule hotel; 2. Mingei: Crafts made by the people, for the people; 3. Techniques and materials: ceramics, paper and Japanese fabrics; 4. Japan Effect: the boldness of Japanese fashion conquers the world; 5. Content and continent: packaging and product design from Japan; 6. Visual conciseness: Japanese graphic design; 7. High-tech design: vending machines, walkman and friendly robots; and 8. Spirituality, nature and time in Japanese design. With interviews with several designers and scholars on the subject, the podcast was produced by Rádio Novelo and is available on the usual platforms, such as You Tube and Spotify. Find out more and listen at https://podcast.japanhousesp.com.br/.
The two seasons of the documentary series “Designers do Brasil”, curated by Adélia Borges, are available on the Amazon Prime streaming service. The 20 videos reveal the creative universe of names at the forefront of Brazilian design, in different specialties. The first season features the participation of Antonio Bernardo, Fred Gelli, Guto Indio da Costa, Guto Requena, Heloísa Crocco, Jacqueline Terpins, Ovo, Renato Imbroisi, Rico Lins and Ronaldo Fraga. The second season features Bete Paes, Joana Lira, Domingos Tótora, Fernando Prado, Ana Neute, Gringo Cardia, Heloísa Galvao, J. Cunha, Lino Villaventura, Marcelo Rosenbaum, Marina Sheetikoff, Renata Meirelles and Questtonó. More than just professionals showing their portfolios, the documentaries discuss issues such as the contribution that countries in the Southern Hemisphere can offer to global culture; cultural identity; and design as a tool for social transformation. Production by Pacto Filmes.
The MASP Store – São Paulo Museum of Art Assis Chateaubriand has a unique profile among Brazilian museums, as it presents objects from various parts of the country created by communities of artisans, indigenous peoples and erudite designers displayed side by side, in a non-hierarchical manner. The selection has been curatorially consulted by Adélia Borges since 2016, being consistent with the institution’s original conceptual positioning defined by Lina Bo and Pietro Maria Bardi, which has been taken up by the museum’s current artistic director. In 2025, the year in which the program focuses on the Stories of Ecology, the store will present a special selection of pieces from various regions of the country in tune with the broad concept of sustainable development, which encompasses environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions. The portfolio celebrates and expresses the plurality of Brazilian culture. The store is divided into three units, two in the historic building and one in the Pietro building, opened in March 2025, which has a more comprehensive selection. https://www.masploja.org.br/
“Criação cabo-verdiana: Percursos” (Cape Verdean Creations: Routes) is the title of a exhibition that the National Center for Art, Craft and Design (CNAD) in Cape Verde is being featured since July 2022 in Mindelo. It brings a selection of works from the center’s collection, dating from the 1890s to the present. This public collection began to be created in the 1970s, when the then National Craft Center (CNA) was inaugurated in tune with the country’s struggle for political independence. Adélia Borges is the co-curator with Irlando Ferreira, CNAD’s Director. This inauguration marked the reopening of the CNAD building in Mindelo, on São Vicente Island, after undergoing an architectural requalification designed by Ramos Castellano Arquitectos. @cnad.cv
Adélia Borges started a YouTube Channel with a few documentaries she has produced, as well as audiovisual materials on some of her exhibitions and talks. Bit.ly/adeliaborges
The exhibition “Playful Sculptures” is available to tour. The show was presented at Museu da Casa Brasileira (Museum of the Brazilian Home) from October 2022 to April 2023. It situates a synthesis of Sara Rosenberg’s path in design, in collaboration with her sister Anete Ring, and scrutinizes a more recent activity, from the last decade: fiberglass interactive sculptures for children. The material allows for serial reproduction of her works, and the work is a hybrid between art and design. Fiberglass is resistant both inside and outside and it can be easily transported thanks to its lightness. The show goes from the space in front of the museum to its yard, inner garden, and two rooms inside the museum—the latter aimed at unfolding the process of development of the works. There is also space for debut in urban furniture, with benches also made of fiberglass.
Exhibition design: MCB Team, directed by Giancarlo Latorraca
Access article by curator Adélia Borges
Access article by artist Sara Rosenberg
Access the timeline
Access article by director Giancarlo Latorraca
Photos by Vinicius Stasolla/ MCB
Works by women in the state of São Paulo utilizing thread, yarn, and fiber as means of self-expression, creative interpretation of their own identity, and manifestation of citizenship. This was the focus of “EntreMeadas” (Between Weaves), an exhibition happened at Sesc Vila Mariana (2019/ 2020), Sesc Guarulhos (2022) and Sesc Bauru (2022/ 2023). Curator Adélia Borges highlighted the work of associations, coops, and communities to which craft is also an important source of income generation. From different areas throughout the state, they gather 29 groups of women from different generations, origins, and social classes. The show brought a total of 29 participating groups from 18 cities of São Paulo State. You can learn more on the introduction video made by Sesc Guarulhos at https://youtu.be/3_KIYar9H5g and on the Sesc’s catalogue, here.
11th São Paulo State Government Award for the Arts 2020
Adélia Borges was nominated for the 11th São Paulo State Government Award for the Arts 2020 in the Material and Intangible Cultural Heritage category, for the exhibition EntreMeadas at Sesc Vila Mariana. She was a finalist among five competitors, in a ceremony in December 2021. https://www.cultura.sp.gov.br/confira-os-finalistas-do-11o-premio-governo-do-estado-de-sao-paulo-para-as-artes-de-2020/
Adélia Borges is the first Woman to receive a Doctor Honoris Causa title from the São Paulo State University (Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho,” UNESP. The ceremony was held in 2021 March 8th. Up until then, UNESP had awarded sixteen Doctor Honoris Causa titles, including geographer Milton Santos, economist Celso Furtado, literary critic Antonio Candido, indigenist Orlando Villas Bôas, and two Nobel Prize winners—Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Peace) and David Gross (Physics). The process for the title award was initiated by the Department of Design at the School of Architecture, Arts and Communication of the Bauru campus, based on Ms. Borges’s contributions to research, dissemination, valorization, and consolidation of Brazilian design within the country and abroad. As it often happens in public universities, the process for granting the title was long and required expert opinions and approvals in several instances. The ceremony can be accessed at https://youtu.be/vO9Es15zKc8. More information at https://www.faac.unesp.br/#!/honoris-causa/ and acess https://ensaiosemdesign.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/09_08.pdf
Adélia Borges is a member of a few academic committees. Since 2016 she has been part of the selection committee of Making Futures, an academic conference organized by the Plymouth College of Art in the UK. The conference investigates handicraft, the maker movement, and art as potential “agents of change” in the 21st Century society, reflecting on an emerging aesthetic of production and consumption based on movements by independent artisans (https://makingfutures.pca.ac.uk/). She served as a peer reviewer in the last two conferences of the ICDHS / International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, held in Barcelona in 2018 and in Zagreb in 2020 (https://www.icdhs12.org/). And, starting in 2021, she is now an expert reviewer for the Journal of Design History, published by the Oxford University.
John Thackara, from England; Irene Vermeulen, from the Netherlands; Ashoke Chatterjee, from India; and Lujan Cambariere, from Argentina were a few among the international critics who wrote praises for the book Design + Craft: The Brazilian Path. In 240 pages, this publication presents an X-ray of the recent revitalization of artisanal objects in Brazil, showing how efforts marked by entrepreneurship and social innovation bring new momentum to local sustainable development. A talk with a summary of the book’s content has been presented in many different locations, such as Plymouth (England), Chennai (India), Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre. E-book available here.
Adélia Borges is a frequent lecturer around the world. Her talks have been presented in 22 countries, in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal College of Art (London), the Japanese Institute of Design (Tokyo), the Danish Design Museum (Kopenhagen), the Helsinki Design Week (Helsinki), the What Design Can Do Seminar (Amsterdam), and the Museo Franz Meyer (Mexico City).
