The Heart of Community

This April, multi-award-winning Latinx fashion designer Anabella Bergero launched Heart of Community at the Project Room—a dynamic exhibition that will run through July showcasing textile art, fashion design pieces, collage, and digitally printed murals that together create a Latinx Pop visual universe.

Heart of Community offers a mixed media experience that seeks to challenge traditions, gender roles, and identities within Latin American culture,” explains Bergero who was born in Argentina, raised in Mexico, and is now based in Miami.

With the premise that art is a continuous state of encounter, Bergero sets in motion different forms of exchange—from creating a visual aesthetic that deconstructs stereotypical notions of Latinidad to repurposing the art space as a community gathering hub with collective acts of co-creation. Thus, the Project Room becomes a space for the celebration, enjoyment, and production of creativity. “My goal is to share my culture and build common ground where everyone can express their own sense of self in a stimulating environment.” 

Her cross-disciplinary approach brings together a curated collection of dress designs, collaged photographs, kitsch iconography, vinyl and wallpaper installations, free tie-dye workshops, and panel conversations with guests from the art and fashion industry. Bergero will also record four podcast episodes of Más Cultura Por Favor with her co-host Yisus Peña and other creatives discussing a range of themes tied to the installation.

 By blurring the boundaries between inside and outside—private and public—through a translucent window mural that projects the interior display into the public sphere, Heart of Community makes art an act of enjoyment beyond the walls of the gallery space, inviting her audience and passersby to peek in, explore, and join in her artistic practice.

“My first steps into the art and fashion world came after winning the acclaimed competition Fashion Edition Buenos Aires hosted by Faena,” said Bergero, “so this exhibition feels full circle.”