The first exhibition of local graphic design opens at Panama’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) on 9th August. The collection brings together exhibits of works by Panamanian graphic designers whose have made a significant contribution to the progress of visual communication in Panama. The works on show constitute an important milestone in the emergence of the country’s graphic design and visitors will be immersed in a
world of design for the print media.

Each designer or studio has chosen pieces that highlight different stages in the creative and production. Obviously in this first staging of an exhibition of this kind, each piece “works” and has achieved its “commercial” objective. Nevertheless the undeniable intention to display works that are aesthetically pleasing is clearly present in this selection that is open until 3rd September.

The galleries

The works on show include pieces by designers Virgilio Milord, Mark Hanly, Orosmán de la Guardia, Mariana Núñez, Sebastián Chávez, Peter Novey and Ricky Salterio, which are exhibited variously in separate galleries or together with the works of their design teams in galleries dedicated to their design studios. The gallery “Diseño 507” shows printed pieces by a group of independent designers and emerging studios as well as audiovisual presentations.

The works on show cover a broad spectrum, from compact disc covers for the albums of Panamanian rock artists to entire corporate identity layouts for leading regional companies. Some works on show have earned awards for their designers such as the How magazine editorial design award, awards made by the Broadcast Design Association and the Gold Award from Utopia Papers, New York.

The old and the new of design

The “collective” nature of the exhibition is not limited to the presentation of works by different designers. The exhibition’s concept, management and organization was the result of collaboration between Núñez and the Ají Pintao team, de la Guardia, Salterio and Novey (from the Revolver studio), and Hanly in which they recalled the considerable number of commissions on which they had worked together in the past, singling out some specific pieces for recognition and sharing facts about the history of design and designers in Panama. These long sessions gave birth to one of the exhibition’s additional attractions: “Anécdotas” [Anecdotes], which is a series of conversations with the pioneers of design and creativity in Panama, with special guest Tony Fergo, sharing their experiences of the graphic industry in Panama.

Núñez and de la Guardia both taught graphic design at the Universidad Santa María La Antigua in the mid nineties, and since then they have maintained a consistent interest in the work of new designers. This gave rise to the idea for “Portafolios Abiertos”,[Open Portfolios] where the best work by Panamanian graphic design students as selected by professors of graphic design faculties, together with final portfolios prepared by graduates from overseas universities, will be reviewed by marketing directors of companies and creative people from advertising agencies.

Panamá Gráfico also includes “Media-horitas”, [half hours] which is a program of short conversations and workshops involving the exhibitors at MAC.

Private enterprise has offered both moral and financial support to this collective initiative. Priscilla Conte, partner and director of Ají Pintao has worked with the coordinating committee to attract sponsorship for the exhibition.

The designers who have organized Panamá Gráfico hope that it will become established as a biennial event, each exhibition focusing on a specific theme, and will act as a forum that will allow the best of local graphic design talent to be exhibited both in Panama and overseas.

MAC and the exhibition

This exhibition, which is a completely new concept in the region, confirms MAC’s role as a platform for art in Panama. María Fábrega, MAC’s Development Director, says that the museum “believes in the importance of giving recognition to graphic design”. “As a museum we are very happy to be shedding light on the creative processes that lie behind items such as logos, the visual identities of multinational companies and non governmental organizations. Graphic design has energized the communications process, developed a universal language and produced art works that we may not recognize as such because we see them on supermarket shelf, but they
are, in fact, works of art”.

Other exhibitors:

Janet Albornoz (shik.studio), Ernesto Asch, Blank Magazine, Val Barahona, Mairena Briones, Corotú, Juan Ramón Córdoba (Sala 25), Raúl Correa, Arturo de la Guardia, Michelle Du Bois (Tribu), Marisa Gomar (Clave 2), Mariví González, Vivecka Grau, Ricardo Karamañites (Se7en Arts), Mario Lozano (Liquid Art, Inc.), Francisco Merel (Sala 25), Rosendo Merel (Sala 25), Carolina Sousa (Tribu), Íngrid Villarreal (Basic Gris), Wei Loo Yau, Jorge Alemán, Frank Zamora