MAM Rio: origin and construction
The exhibition MAM Rio: origin and construction presents the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro’s process of establishing. A selection of approximately 160 documents showcases the ideas and intentions which shaped the museum, the individuals who contributed to or witnessed its creation, as well as the design and construction of its iconic building, conceived by architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy and carried out in collaboration with engineer and urban planner Carmen Portinho, between years 1954 and 1967. All 10 worktables invite visitors to sit down and study the files, while 5 curated images were affixed to vertical panels made of wire mesh. The spaces not occupied by the images as well as the openings in the panels’ mesh allow visitors to glimpse what lies behind them, creating an effect of lightness and transparency for the ambient.
The visual identity emerges from this exhibition project. Divided into rectangular blocks, the words of the title displayed in stencil typography can change position depending on the application formats, conveying concepts of construction and mobility. In the opening panel, they form a composition with images that create empty spaces, reinforcing the transparency concept of the panels. The graphic design of the tables follows an editorial project structure, with heading texts and images arranged to capture the visitor’s gaze. The color red, which is present in the majority of the museum’s historical graphic materials, was chosen to highlight documents that lean toward a palette of aged paper tones. Thus, a dark gray is adopted as a secondary supporting color to emphasize these documents in shades of red.
MAM Rio, 2023
artistic direction: Pablo Lafuente
curator: Beatriz Lemos
communication director: Erika Palomino
design coordination: Amanda Lianza
expography: Juliana Godoy
animation: Matheus Freitas
photos from the exhibition: Fábio Souza /MAM Rio (disclosure)
