Tuesday Nov. 27-Thursday Nov. 29
DEO, the graphic design studio in which I worked, was working with SUMO and La Moneda on their upcoming exhibit. This was kind of a big deal, because La Moneda is the building where the Chilean president lives. Below La Moneda is a cultural center and museum. In their main exhibition spaces on the lower level, they have exhibits that change about every 3-4 months. The work that we got to do will be on display until March!
The exhibit, America: Tierra de Jinetes (Land of the cowboys), was a collection that was coming to us from Mexico. However, upon arrival in Chile, the collection was rebranded and displayed in a different fashion. There were a lot of people involved in the exhibit – so many moving parts. SUMO is a consultancy that does environmental design. DEO did graphic design – such as the cedúlas (cells/descriptions with info about the pieces) and the textures and logo. La Moneda provided all of the research – we worked with Manuela, Palomita, and Macarena while we were there.
It all started on Tuesday (the day right after I got back from Puerto Montt). That afternoon, I went to the museum with Flori. We helped with logistical things – like identifying pieces so that we they were cataloged correctly.
Wednesday was a long day. We were at the museum for 10 hours. I helped with logistical things again – specifically the cedúlas. There were over 400 pieces in the exhibit, and almost all of them needed cedúlas. An added twist was that the cedúlas weren’t slips of paper, but boards of MDF – about 4 x 6 x .75”. I spent a lot of time helping organize them. Manuela, Palomita or Pepa (boss from DEO) would label them and I would organize them according to label.
In addition to the cedúlas, we helped put in place the sticker system to identify pieces and captions. There were numbered stickers that were placed near the actual museum piece itself and a sticker on the corresponding caption. This seemed relatively straightforward, but it had some complications. For example, each piece had 2 matching stickers, which meant that there were 800 stickers in place. Some stickers went on the wall, by paintings. Others involved stepping into glass cases so that they could be placed right by the piece. It was incredible to watch Macarena and Flori duck in and out, careful not to touch any of the old pieces within the glass cases.
Thursday night was the opening inauguration, so that day was pretty busy. In addition to what we were doing before, there were paper textures and acrylic sheets to put in place. But it was all worth it – it felt great to be a part of something so big. I had a good time.
That night, at the inauguration, it was cool to see people going through the exhibit after all the work we had done. The event was very much an adult party – dress up, listen to some speeches and have some hors d’oeuvres. Lots of… interesting hors d’oeuvres. Fancy bread and pebre (Chilean salsa), cheeses, sopapillas, little cakes and empanadas (one vegetarian and one with horse jearky??? At an exhibit bout cowboys and horses?). Not to mention free wine. I was a couple glasses and plates in by the end of it… Flori and Pepa’s husbands also came, and they all went out to a fancy French restaurant afterward to celebrate. They invited me as well, but I was exhausted and might have enjoyed the free hors d’oeuvres and wine a little too much. Luckily they sent me home in an uber.
In this uber, I was talking to the driver, and he mentioned that his son had just graduated in industrial design and was looking for a job. I told him that there might be positions open after Susi and I leave – but more at Susi’s company than mine (since my position didn’t really exist). He called his son and had me talk to him on the phone… that was an interesting experience
