The Museum and the Disposessed

Jorge Mañes Rubio and Amanda Pinatih, co-founders of Design Museum Dharavi, were among the speakers at Art for Tomorrow in Doha, a conference organised by the New York Times. New boundaries, where and why art follows the rules or challenges them, and art’s role in creating and influencing personal, corporate, urban and national identities were explored. In this session, “The Museum and the Disposessed”, Jorge and Amanda explain their work at the front of their museum and its impact on the challenging environment of Dharavi.

Design Museum Dharavi is the first museum of its kind, based in the homegrown neighbourhood of Dharavi, showcasing local talent through a nomadic exhibition space and employing design as a tool to promote social change and innovation on a global scale. The project was awarded the Leading Culture Destinations Awards 2016 in the category of Best New Museum of the Year – Asia Pacific’ and was nominated for the Beazley Designs of the Year by the Design Museum London last year.

”A museum can be defined not only by architectural glamour or by a famous collection,” Mr. Rubio said. “We envision a museum where walls are dissolvable, a museum that will play a way more relevant social role in our cities. That’s the museum of the future.”

You can watch the full session here or read a recap of the conference on the NYT piece Culture as a Bridge Across Global Troubles.