NYC x DESIGN x SOUVENIR
In 2024 we were invited by NYC x DESIGN, an annual New York design festival, to curate and install an invitational exhibition devoted to souvenirs that represent and celebrate the city. The exhibition theme was widely open for participants’ interpretation. We encouraged alternative, innovative and critical approaches to commercial souvenir typologies available on the market. Over 50 invited New York designers participated in the show at Hudson Yards.
Laurene Leon’s entry, a DIY souvenir of Flaco, a beloved Central Park owl who died in 2024, was made of a spare sock.
In a characteristic pop-up fashion, we created an effective exhibition display from metal gridded shelving found on site (a former Brooks Brothers store).
Bits of New York by Constantin Boym, with unknown NYC street artists
To create Bits of New York, we placed a number of 12” x 12” steel panels in downtown Manhattan, attaching them to random street posts or scaffolding. In the course of two months, freshly painted panels turned into spontaneous collages of messages, icons, and signatures. Visitors will have a chance to bring home an authentic memento of New York City’s raw and creative street art.
In 2025, we reprised the NYC x DESIGN x Souvenir exhibition at a larger location, the Oculus in downtown Manhattan. This time, the juried exhibition was open to all NYC participants, with over 75 designers taking part. Once again, the exhibition installation was assembled from materials found on site.
LIBERTY UPENDED by Constantin Boym
Liberty Upended is a polemical souvenir that reflects on the reality of the current political climate in New York City, and elsewhere in the United States of America. In this object, an overturned miniature of the Liberty is marked with the inauguration date of the nation's 47th President: January 20, 2025.
Due to a large number of requests, the souvenir was later produced in edition.