Exhibition "Pure Gold - Upcycled! Upgraded!"

O Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON) receives in Room 2 the international traveling exhibition “Pure Gold – Upcycled! Upgraded!" which features 76 works, from furniture to objects, by 53 designers of various nationalities. The opening will be on August 21st at 18 pm.

It is an exhibition of Institute for Foreign Relations eV (ifa) in cooperation with the Oscar Niemeyer museum and Goethe Institute Sao PauloThe idealization and design of the exhibition is by Volker Albus, professor at the University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Latin American concept is by curator, researcher, and design historian Adélia Borges.

"The Pure Gold exhibition expands the MON's reach as a space for reflection on major contemporary issues," emphasizes Luciana Casagrande Pereira, Secretary of State for Culture. "By bringing together works that combine sustainability, inventiveness, and social impact, the exhibition invites us to rethink the very role of design in building more conscious futures," she adds.

"Much more than just an object of contemplation, art is a powerful tool for changing how something is perceived, overcoming established standards, and seeking new values," says Juliana Vosnika, MON's CEO. "This is the case with this exhibition, a thought-provoking collection of works that unites designers from different countries in a shared universal reflection: humanity's relationship with nature."

Juliana notes that, not coincidentally, in addition to this exhibition, the MON is simultaneously holding other exhibitions that address the same issue. This redefinition is evident, for example, in the work of Mexican Gabriel de la Mora (Room 1) and Brazilian Barrão (Room 3), both artists with similar approaches to discussion.

"Upcycling has gained traction worldwide by proposing different approaches to processing discarded materials and creating new, valuable products. In addition to raising awareness of alternative production techniques, we have examples of what can be done here," he says.

Working with curators from Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Near East, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, the ifa brought together dozens of international works and designers in the exhibition, including two Brazilians: Domingos Tótora and Brunno Jahara.

The exhibition has already been presented in London, Hamburg, Barcelona and Bangkok, among other places.

In this edition prepared for the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, the exhibition proposes a dialogue with the Museum's permanent collection. By including seven design works from the MON's collection, the exhibition allows visitors to compare them. When displayed side by side, they reveal no aesthetic or functional difference between those using conventional or recycled materials.

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