Link About It: This Week’s Picks

International art news, Africa-centric emojis, architecture, cassette tape clothing and more

9 November 2019

Shanghai’s Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum Project Opens This Week

Inside Shanghai’s David Chipperfield–designed West Bund Museum, acclaimed Paris contemporary art museum Centre Pompidou will curate exhibitions and provide work from its own collection (for at least the next five years). According to the Pompidou, it’s an act of “museum diplomacy,” the “largest ever cultural exchange” between France and China thus far. Part of its goal is to raise the prestigious institution’s profile outside of France, and foster dialogue. That said, in order for work to stay up inside the 27,000 square feet of exhibition space, it will have to receive approval from Chinese censorship authorities—with local officials already requesting the replacement of some pieces in the debut exhibition, “The Shape of Time.” Read more at the New York Times.

Benjamin Benmoyal’s Clothing From Recycled Cassette Tape

For his collection called It Was Better Tomorrow, Benjamin Benmoyal hand-wove sculptural garments from recycled cassette tape, recycled yarn and Tencel. Benmoyal (a student at London’s Central Saint Martins) drew inspiration from his time in the Israeli army, the colors of Iceland and artists James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson, as well as brutalist architecture. The resulting garments are quite stunning, from their luminous quality to their color palettes, and architectural and voluminous shapes. Find out more through Dezeen‘s interview.

Ivory Coast Artist O’Plérou Grebet’s Africa-Centric Emojis

21-year-old Ivory Coast-based O’Plérou Grebet noticed a lack of applicable emojis for many Africans to use in everyday instant messaging and did something about it. Grebet’s emoji library Zouzoukwa (meaning “picture” in his first language Bété) includes 200+ images from food to furniture, facial reactions, tools, and more. “I love it because it’s exactly why my project is useful to an African, it fills a hole in digital communication. When we talk to our friends using instant messaging, there are local expressions we want to use but can’t because they are not there,” he tells It’s Nice That. “With all the negative images of Africa in the media, it’s easy to reduce [the continent] to its bad sides only… but we have to tell another story and this is my contribution.” Zouzoukwa is available at the Play and App Store. Read more at It’s Nice That.

Danish Architect Dorte Mandrup’s The Whale Visitor Center in the Arctic Circle

A few miles from the shore of Norwegian town Andenes, on the island Andøya in the Arctic Circle, a deep-sea valley (called bleiksdjupa) frequently welcomes migrating whales. Breaching the dramatic landscape near the town, The Whale attraction will open its doors to visitors hoping to catch a glimpse. Inside, it will also tell the story of the magnificent marine mammals, their relationship to humans and their passage through the area. Danish Architect Dorte Mandrup’s parabolic design, imagined and developed in collaboration with Marianne Levinsen Landskab, JAC Studio, Thornton Tomasetti, AT Plan & Arkitektur, Nils Øien and Anders Kold, beat out many international powerhouse firms—and understandably so as it embraces the surrounding landscape. See more stunning images at Dorte Madrup’s site.

2020 CES Innovation Award Honorees Announced

Billed as the world’s largest technology and innovation conference, the CTA’s CES (in Las Vegas every January) offers media, fellow industry folks, and investors in on all of the newest gadgets, software, and product announcements from established and emerging brands. As such, and to organize the show a bit, Innovation Award Honorees are named annually to spotlight significant advancements, ingenious inventions, and interesting design. From shoes for navigating VR worlds to AR-capable architecture toys, an AI-assisted mirror that can detect skin issues and suggest solutions, and a biometrics-locked cannabis container (pictured), the honorees span use cases and even intended audiences. See the full list on the CES site.