Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger have been announced as co-curators of Exhibit Columbus during the 2020-2021 cycle.

The 2020-2021 Exhibit Columbus Curators are Iker Gil, founder of MAS Studio and the nonprofit MAS Context and executive director of the SOM Foundation, and Mimi Zeiger, a Los Angeles-based critic, editor, and curator. Gil and Zeiger bring an extensive background in researching and creating exhibitions and publications around architecture and design through themes related to alternative histories of modernism, cities and the urgencies of civic space, resiliency, and connectivity.

“Exhibit Columbus is excited to build upon its first two cycles by introducing new curatorial voices to the third iteration of the program through the Curatorial Fellowship. As curators, Mimi and Iker bring a great interest in Columbus’ design legacy and an enthusiasm for this city as a context for experimentation and collaboration,” said Anne Surak, Exhibit Columbus Director. “They also bring a deep understanding of the ways architecture and design, at a variety of scales, shape our cities and inform the ways we relate to each other. Now more than ever, this innovative addition allows us to strengthen our ability to engage locally, while simultaneously considering the program from a global perspective.”

Working alongside the Exhibit Columbus team, the co-curators will develop the curatorial theme and shape the upcoming two-year cycle of programming, which will include a 2020 Symposium this fall (hosted virtually and/or with some in-person events—more details to be announced this summer) and the 2021 Exhibition, scheduled to take place next year from August 20–November 28, 2021.

“What makes Columbus’ design history so unique is the investment in architecture as a social project,” says Gil and Zeiger. “We are thrilled to join the Exhibit Columbus team and the Columbus community to shape conversations, installations, and research honoring this past, while recognizing the complex social and ecological issues facing American towns and cities at this very moment. And it is through architecture and design—through the symposium and exhibition—that we hope to explore meaningful and necessary ways forward.”