.087 Cups - The Mahogany Project Exhibit

In our hands lies a piece of mahogany harvested in Guatemala and Nicaragua between 1950s and 1970s, when Central America was plunged into turmoil after centuries of exploitation. Natural resources being basic sustenance to indigenous communities were extracted and sold aboard as exotic goods. The detrimental effects are long lasting and in many cases irreversible.

Entitled “Cups”, our project poses questions about what sustainable and humanitarian design can be: What is the intent behind making, selling and consuming designed objects? What is ethical approach to design? Can the entire process promote humanitarian goals such as education, empowerment, healing, reconciliation, without monetary transaction?

Cups are objects of divination devoid of prescribed functions. The anthropomorphic forms and the anthropological meanings behind these gesture artifacts, and their ritualistic implications, are conceived as instruments that foster human connections. Holding a cup symbolizes the gesture of holding another person's hands, as a way to connect and to heal.

Cups is a part of the Mahogany Project exhibit curated by Propellor Studio, opens at the Museum of Vancouver on July 19th , 2023.