Minerasophia; Underground Cycles is the name of the interdisciplinary proposal that will represent Chile at the London Design Biennial, which celebrates its fifth edition until June 29 under the title "Surface Reflections".
This event will bring together designers, curators and institutions from around the world to reflect on design as a tool for social, political and environmental change, through installations, exhibitions and collaborative projects representing different countries and cities.
The Chilean proposal invites us to rethink the extractivist logic and proposes a sensory encounter with the mineral materials that are part of the country's landscape and history.
This participation corresponds to one of the annual milestones of the design internationalization strategy promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, in collaboration with ProChile, DIRAC, the Chilean Embassy in the United Kingdom and Fundación Imagen de Chile.
The project is also supported by private institutions such as the Anglo Chilean Society, an organization based in the United Kingdom that promotes cultural understanding and friendly relations between Chile and the United Kingdom. The pavilion is being developed in collaboration with public-private institutions such as the Catholic University's T2CM (Tailings to Construction Materials) project, which transforms mining tailings into sustainable construction materials through innovative physicochemical processes.
About Minerasophia: Underground Cycles
The installation is part of an extensive research by artist and designer Mále Uribe, who together with leading designer Constanza Gaggero, will present sculptures, materials and objects in an audiovisual installation created from processed minerals, tailings and mining waste, as well as semi-precious stones and lithium salts.
These elements, worked together with local artisans and pirquineros, propose new ways of narrating and redefining the hierarchies of value attributed to each material.
Mále Uribe commented that "we want to show that minerals are not only resources, but living entities, with geological and cultural memory. Our objective is to reestablish a relationship of admiration and respect for matter and its slow evolutionary rhythm.
Constanza Gaggero emphasized that "today, more than ever, it is essential to create a new visual narrative around our natural heritage. In times when we question our relationship with the planet, visual communication can (and should) open paths towards a new relationship with our environment".
Minerasophia explores the tensions between the industrial and cultural value of minerals. Through a sensorial and contemplative staging, the project proposes a new way of reading the territory: not only as a reserve of raw materials, but also as a deep archive of geological times, ancestral knowledge and possible futures.
Art, science, technology and craft converge in this project, promoting a critical reflection on the extractive industry and, at the same time, recognizing the local knowledge passed down through generations of working with stones and minerals. The installation is an invitation to imagine other ways of relating to the material environment, and to expand the notion of design from an ecological, ethical and cultural perspective.
The designers
Mále Uribe
Architect and artist, Mále Uribe holds an MA from the Royal College of Art in London and has a solid background in art projects, space design and museography developed between London and Santiago.
She has worked with institutions and brands such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Design Museum, Prada, Hermès and Nike, among others. She was Director of Art and Research at Storey Studio and, in 2019, she was selected as an artist-in-residence at The Design Museum in London, where she began her research around the mineral resources of the Chilean desert. Her work has been exhibited at The Design Museum (London), CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), Science Museum (Hong Kong), Royal College of Art (London), Galería Pada (Lisbon), Palacio Pereira and Gallo Gallery (Chile), among others.
He has taught at the Royal College of Art, Camberwell University of the Arts and several Chilean universities, leading between 2022 and 2024 the museography workshop of the Diploma in Museography and Exhibition Spaces at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His work has been published in international media such as Financial Times, Dezeen and Crafts Magazine.
Constanza Gaggero
Designer with studies at the Universidad Diego Portales, a postgraduate degree in Museum Cultures from the University of London and a diploma in Typography from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
She is a member of the prestigious Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and founder of the Gaggeroworks studio, where she serves as creative director. With almost 20 years of experience in visual identity, she has developed projects in the UK and Chile with a strong focus on culture.
His clients in the United Kingdom include institutions such as Tate, The British Museum, British Council, Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, Barbican, National Museums Northern Ireland, Natural History Museum and Arts Council UK. In Chile, he has worked with the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Museo Histórico Nacional, CCPM, Círculo de Arte Antenna, MIM, Futuro NuMu, CMPC, Gobierno de Chile and Restorán Liguria, among others. At the same time, she collaborates as a consultant for cultural and knowledge institutions, and develops personal research on botany and visual communication.
The London Design Biennial
The London Design Biennale is a global stage for world-leading contemporary design and design-led innovation, creativity and research. Established in 2016, it promotes international collaboration and the global role of design with exhibitions and installations that demonstrate the ambition to create universal solutions to the problems that concern us all.
