Urban Zen x NYTM

Tiago Valente partnered with Urban Zen by Donna Karan and New York Textile Month (NYTM) to present MONU'IA, a global research project about textile anthropology. The experience included the exhibition of an installation, together with a screening of a documentary about Tiago's journey through the beautiful and untouched islands of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific Ocean.

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Over the course of two months, Tiago lived and coexisted with four ethnic groups, located on different islands of the country. Each one one of these groups, presented a different level of exposure to what we understand now as "modern civilization". The initial object of Tiago's study was to observe and understand the impact of this phenomena on these groups and how this affected their interactions with the modern world.

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For this purpose we created a wall hanging to act as a portal between worlds, upcycling discarded textiles from fashion brands in Asia. Ultimately displaying it wherever Tiago travelled in Vanuatu.

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