Mexico City lighting design studio Davidpompa has collaborated with restaurant Contramar to create an exhibit for the city’s art week that explores the intersection of traditional Mexican weaving and seafood preparation.
Located in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighbourhood, Woven Kitchen features the presentation of Mexican seafood dishes by the well-known restaurant Contramar alongside the Cilia lighting collection by Davidpompa.
The studio sought to bring together traditional Mexican craftsmanship and cuisine, informed by the woven disks found in the Cilia collection and the local seafood dishes and cooking methods of Contramar, headed by chef Gabriela Cámara.
“We decided to do this collaboration since Contramar is the place where we spend most of our Saturdays – it’s a place for inspiration, for cultural materials,” Davidpompa founder David Pompa told Dezeen. “We have a long admiration for the work of Gabriela.”
Hand-woven palma lines the exhibition’s floors and walls as a nod to the technique, which dates back to pre-Hispanic times in Mexico. Suspended from the ceiling, the studio’s Cilia lighting pendants also utilize the material and were crafted by woman artisans from Puebla.
In reference to the industrial kitchens and contemporary techniques utilised by Contramar, the space was lined with large steel panels.
As the centre of the exhibition, large steel display tables hold seafood dishes and deconstructed lighting pieces, “emphasizing the interconnected processes of design and seafood preparation”, according to the team.
Dishes served during the exhibition include warm shrimp broth, a soup that traditionally marks the beginning of a seafood meal, and tuna tostadas topped with woven leeks.
An assortment of dried ingredients will also be on display, as they are used to prepare the shrimp broth and reference the use of palma in traditional drying methods in Mexico.
In addition, a limited edition piece by Davidpompa will also be presented, made with blue-dyed palma and aluminium and informed by Contramar’s “bold-identity”.
“Woven Kitchen transforms these cultural threads into a sensory experience of sculptural lighting, experimental cuisine, and an exhibition that documents the creative dialogue behind this collaboration,” said the team.
Mexico City art week is oriented around the Zona Maco art fair and includes other fairs and activations across the city in early February. Past exhibitions have featured the first furniture design by Mexican architect Michel Rojkind and furniture made of 3,000 stacked pieces of wrinkled manila paper.
Dezeen has collaborated with Studio Davidpompa for the exhibition’s opening event and on an architecture-oriented guide to Mexico City for those visiting during the art week.
The photography is by Studio Davidpompa
Woven Kitchen will be on show from 4-9 February 2025 at Colima 264, Roma Norte, Mexico City. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
