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Duro Olowu Selects 

Start Date 18 March 2022
End Date 28 August 2022
Venue Cooper Hewitt Museum, Smithsonian Design Museum
Location New York, USA
Curator Duro Olowu
Designer Roger Diener of Diener & Diener Architekten and Architect of Record Garcia-Menocal Studio
Organized for Cooper Hewitt by Curator of Contemporary Design and Hintz Secretarial Scholar Alexandra Cunningham Cameron
Curatorial fellow Amanda Forment Hirsch
Curatorial Intern Claire Quong
Exhibition Graphic design Kelly Sung
Exhibition display of a gallery filled with various objects, divided by transparent screens

Duro Olowu Selects is the twentieth installment in Cooper Hewitt’s Selects series, which invites designers, writers, and cultural figures to explore and interpret objects in the museum’s collection. This exhibition is curated by Nigerian-British designer Duro Olowu who has received international recognition for his eponymous fashion label, textile designs, and curatorial work, which take inspiration from art and artists both known and unknown, his curious and discerning eye, and his cosmopolitan perspective.

Olowu’s exhibition highlights the theme of pattern and repetition throughout Cooper Hewitt’s collection, demonstrating how skilled and novice makers have relied on pattern to express ideas, preserve heritage, capture attention, and construct objects and environments.

Installation photo of “Duro Olowu Selects: Work from the Permanent Collection” at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Photo: Matt Flynn © Smithsonian Institution