Photo by Jenna Bascom. Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design
Positioning photographic documentation, radio broadcasts, ephemera, data, and an installation generated by the project, AMBOS, as well as seven other projects from Aguiñiga’s ongoing design and artistic practice, Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft & Care at MAD demonstrates the link that the artist is forging between design thinking and community work. “Design thinking,” which refers to the creative strategies for problem solving, is situated here as something inherent to craft—a vehicle utilized by Aguiñiga for self-care and community building. And the work the artist has been doing near the Tijuana border crossing is timely, indeed.
Photo by Jenna Bascom. Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design.
One of the projects is the Border Art Workshop/Taller de Arte Fronterizo (BAW/TAF). As a member of this group, Aguiñiga played a central role in the creation of a community arts center in an autonomous land-squat run by indigenous women on the outskirts of Tijuana.
6ft high x 48 ft long Courtesy of the artist
She then went on to launch the creative capital-funded project AMBOS, where she fostered a greater sense of interconnectedness in the border regions. The project, AMBOS, has become multifaceted. It is part documentation of the border, part collaboration with artists, part community activism, part exploration of identities influenced by the liminal zone of the borderlands.
By connecting with local artists, activists, and makers in the border region, AMBOS works to capture an accurate representation of the sister cities and communities living and working on both sides.
Photo by Jenna Bascom. Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design.
Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft & Care will be on view to October 2, 2018 at Museum of Arts & Design (MAD), 2 Columbus Circle, NYC. this program is presented as part of NYCxDESIGN 2018.