PERFORMATIVE SPACE DESIGN
MIXMAX Brasil Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam – Oct/2012 – Mar/2015 – 700 m2 space. Awarded with the IDCA International Design Communication Awards – 2nd Best Exhibition Layout category, in Sweden, in July 2013
“The emphasis on creating a theatrical context becomes apparent in one of the comments of the young visitors of the museum. (…) I would always inevitably fall short, as this experience is exactly of the momentary nature Brook indicated, which makes it impossible to fix it on or in paper (…) A dynamic environment invites children to participate actively. (…) The environment is depicted as “lively”, where there is a lot to see and to do, giving the children the feeling that they are the owner of the space. (…) Brazilian designer Aby Cohen reflects upon the process of creating the exhibition and the choices she made in this process. For Cohen, the sense of feeling at home is important, influencing the way of designing the museum space. (…) To create the feeling that the visitor can go everywhere and do everything, Cohen searched for a way to create a transparent space. The idea of a transparent space where “you can look through all the way, from one room to another, from front to back and up to down” is comparable to Peter Brook’s notion of an open design. (…) Within the do-exhibition of MixMax Brasil, the involvement of the body means more than only visual assistance, as advocated by Brook. The whole body is involved, in all its senses, as visitors actively perform and participate in the exhibition.” (WOERDEN,2013)
WOERDEN, Anneke van: Collective Re-Presentation: Effectiveness in MixMax Brasil. Master Thesis Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam. June 2013; pg 30/31
‘(…) Although Cohen focuses more on leaving open in a spatial than a temporal sense, both Cohen and Brook are concerned with movement. The MixMax Brasil project invites visitors to move from one room to another, to go where they want to go. For Cohen, the open sense plays a role in showing the Brazilian culture: ‘The open space is also a metaphor for the atmosphere of Brazil, where very positive feelings prevail, where people are on the street and are welcoming and emotional.‘(WOERDEN, 2013.p.30)
Charlie Du’Q e Fabio Souza – artists from Pernambuco working with recycling materials to create percussion instruments and toys.
Facade panel by DERLON de ALMEIDA, Grafitti artist from Pernambuco
In December 2012, by invitation, the project was presented at the International Congress Riksutställningar INTENSIV DAGARNA in Visby│ Suécia under the title: MixMax Brasil – A Vivid Experience for Children
LINKS: Website: http://www.riksutstallningar.se/intensivdagarna http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=BwOu_NtgVXY bambuser.com/v/3198069
Aby Cohen 