Behinde The Project
Inspired by the many people I met along the path tracing the pop culture of crochet in Rio de Janeiro.
This project explores the transformation of the contemporary culture in Rio de Janeiro, through the lens of crochet aesthetics in urban spaces. Crochet has and is currently playing an important role in the pop culture of daily life within Brazil and its diaspora abroad. The research focuses on analysing the impact of crochet as a period which is often overlooked in the constant search for new movements and in fleeting moments of trends.
This project has taught me the value of transcultural collaboration and how to work alongside talented creatives from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Timeline
2021-2023 Brasil & Switzerland
Design Ethnographic Research:
Michelle Joseph-Martins Wanzenried aka Mischelly
based in Brasil/Swiss
Cards,
Photography and copywriting:
Mischelly
Filmed by: Awa Traore based in Paris/Ivory Coat
Narrated by: Mischelly
2026 February Shooting
︎Photograper: Lara Pazini based in Rio de Janeiro Digital &
Analogical colored photos
︎Art Direction: Mischelly @siliciumdioxid based in Brasil & Switzerland
︎Stylist: Marjory Gracia @marrzzo based in Rio de Janeiro
︎Models:Lis Venancio @lis.venancioo
Joao Vitor @jvsmodel based in Rio de Janeiro
︎Geuest on Set Photographer:
Analogic black and wihte photos
@bankpaper @mingmingphoto based in New York
︎Photo editing João Falcão @falcao.ft
Heartfelt thank you Clair Bohney, Cherry Ann Davis and Yumna Al Arashifor reading my texts, helping me refine them, and offering thoughtful suggestions that gave me new perspectives to consider.
10. September 2022 release.
This project started from a personal approach, reflecting on my heritage, identity and my design practice. Being a designer and part of the Brazilian Swiss diaspora with Black and Indigenous American identity my lived reality and outlook of design is different from persons with less intersections to navigate. Throughout my design education I have been surrounded and learned from professionals in the design traditions of the Bauhaus and Swiss International Design styles which centred the aesthetics and knowledge of predominantly elite, white, heteronormative, western European and north American men. The challenge of design in Switzerland is one that questions representations of other cultures within design.
Growing up in Switzerland I did not see aspects of my Brazilian culture or heritage reflected in my design education, a challenge similar to that of designers in the majority world. I was often misunderstood by my lecturers as we had different reference points and were usually not speaking the same creative language since my work is based in my diaspora culture. Swiss institutions are making attempts to change and to support design processes and traditions from cultures which have historically been othered but are still at early stages. The reality is that a new generation of design students with diasporic identities who were never really represented in design history are finding and shaping a new visual language where they are represented.
This research uses the craftsmanship of crochet as a modern trend tool to analyse Brazilian society in this period of development by preserving the current trends and the development of crochet in Rio de Janeiro. This project is a constant form of resistance and can be a record to better understand where it is and its projected path. In Brazil everyone has a story to tell about crochet and the working class always fought for their culture to be valued, although they are major contributors to pop culture that is often spread globally. Crochet used as a tool can be viewed neutrally as it does not conform to gender norms or is it racialized or restricted to class. The archiving of this moment helps to document the story of the often overlooked working class’ impact on pop culture phenomenons through their design aesthetic.
The website “I see somethings you can't see” is a second attempt to show my research from almost one year of living in Rio de Janeiro. The new title for the website is a common children's game where you observe a landscape and describe it to others in hope that they are able to see what you do. Using the description of its culture as it relates to aesthetics to showcase its value as design. The first try “Between Heritage and Contemporary Aesthetics” was an analog archive system in the form of a box used for collecting double sided picture cards with contextual descriptions relating to the photos. Although this execution was not understood, the translation of the print element is important to be represented digitally to show its development. Play as an element was necessary to activate the concept digitally as it deals with topics which cause deep polarisation among Brazilian culture and society.
This project started from a personal approach, reflecting on my heritage, identity and my design practice. Being a designer and part of the Brazilian Swiss diaspora with Black and Indigenous American identity my lived reality and outlook of design is different from persons with less intersections to navigate. Throughout my design education I have been surrounded and learned from professionals in the design traditions of the Bauhaus and Swiss International Design styles which centred the aesthetics and knowledge of predominantly elite, white, heteronormative, western European and north American men. The challenge of design in Switzerland is one that questions representations of other cultures within design.
Growing up in Switzerland I did not see aspects of my Brazilian culture or heritage reflected in my design education, a challenge similar to that of designers in the majority world. I was often misunderstood by my lecturers as we had different reference points and were usually not speaking the same creative language since my work is based in my diaspora culture. Swiss institutions are making attempts to change and to support design processes and traditions from cultures which have historically been othered but are still at early stages. The reality is that a new generation of design students with diasporic identities who were never really represented in design history are finding and shaping a new visual language where they are represented.
This research uses the craftsmanship of crochet as a modern trend tool to analyse Brazilian society in this period of development by preserving the current trends and the development of crochet in Rio de Janeiro. This project is a constant form of resistance and can be a record to better understand where it is and its projected path. In Brazil everyone has a story to tell about crochet and the working class always fought for their culture to be valued, although they are major contributors to pop culture that is often spread globally. Crochet used as a tool can be viewed neutrally as it does not conform to gender norms or is it racialized or restricted to class. The archiving of this moment helps to document the story of the often overlooked working class’ impact on pop culture phenomenons through their design aesthetic.
The website “I see somethings you can't see” is a second attempt to show my research from almost one year of living in Rio de Janeiro. The new title for the website is a common children's game where you observe a landscape and describe it to others in hope that they are able to see what you do. Using the description of its culture as it relates to aesthetics to showcase its value as design. The first try “Between Heritage and Contemporary Aesthetics” was an analog archive system in the form of a box used for collecting double sided picture cards with contextual descriptions relating to the photos. Although this execution was not understood, the translation of the print element is important to be represented digitally to show its development. Play as an element was necessary to activate the concept digitally as it deals with topics which cause deep polarisation among Brazilian culture and society.