ABOUT
Mariana Martinez Balvanera graduated Master of the Arts in Narrative Environments by the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins in 2014 and holds a BA in Interior Architecture from Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión. Within her practice she engages with trans-disciplinary groups for developing spaces, experiences, strategies and live installations. She is interested in involving different communities to co-create spaces that reflect upon every day life experiences in urban and rural settings, in search for common narratives. Through the design of interventions, tools and spaces, she seeks to create potential catalysers for exchange, understanding and new collective sense of place. Currently she works between Mexico City and Amsterdam exploring the collective prototyping of spaces for encounter, dialogue and enabling socio-ecological cohesion. Since 2018 leads Gran Colectivo Pantitlán - a series of cultural interventions that bridge Mexico and the Netherlands, and is cofunder of Cocina Colaboratorio - Colaboratory Kitchen project.
Please feel free to reach out for collaborations!
Contact
info@marianambalvanera.com
Instagram
MX
+52 (1) 5510724535
NL
+31 (0) 623928239
PAST WORK
2015-2020 Social and Spatial Designer at Cascoland, Amsterdam
2014-2015 Architectural Designer at Stichting Mediamatic, Amsterdam
2013-2014 Community Designer in Residence at Bemerton Estate, London
2013 Junior Architectural Designer at Universal Design Studio, London
2012 Design Assistant at Marion Friedmann Gallery, London
2010-2012 Exhibition and programme designer at Ku Colectivo, Mexico City
2011 Intern at Contemporary Art Museum Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
2010 Intern at Lorenzo Álvarez Arquitectos, Mexico City
EDUCATION
2012-2014 MA Narrative Environments . Central Saint Martins, London
2007-2011 BA Interior Architecture . Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión, Mexico City
2012 Where Art Meets Design Course. Central Saint Martins + Elisava School of Design
2011 Curatorial Studies Course. Gimnasio de Arte, Mexico City
2009-2010 Academic Exchange . Poznan Arts University, Poznan, Poland
LINKS AND PUBLICATIONS
What Happened to Utopia - Interview at Medium
Placemaking, Performativity and Community Led Change - Interview by Local Legends
La Cocina como Puente entre Ciencia y Sociedad (2018) - by Conacyt Prensa
Design for Social Challenges publication, Chapter "CoLaboratoryKitchen" in co.authorship with Anna Kooi (2021) - Routledge Press
"Semillas, pertenencia y saberes colectivos en el territorio a través de los Archivos Bioculturales Vivos" in co.authorship with Adriana Cadena Roa for the e-book "Comer relaciona (y confronta) mundos" (2022)-for CCE Mexico edited by Valeria Mata
"A longing for something unknown or yet to be discovered" (2023) - Text for Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof and Slow Moving Collective
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Website design by Moriz Oberberger