What’s Happening: The Mexican art fair’s milestone 20th edition, which is open until Sunday, has been marked by steady growth, a surging interest in Latin American art and design, and Mexico City’s emergence as a pivotal force in the contemporary art market.

The Download: When Zélika García was studying fine art at the University of Monterrey, she visited the Guadalajara Art Fair. “[It] opened my eyes to a new world. It was the first international fair I ever visited,” she told Cool Hunting. She tried returning after graduation but was dismayed that it closed—someone told her that “no one believed that people would buy art in Mexico.” So she started her own fair to promote the country’s flourishing art scene, and the rest is history. Two decades later, Zona Maco has blossomed into one of the cultural calendar’s premier art fairs and helped put Mexico City back on the map as a creative hotbed. The fair’s nascent years with 40 exhibitors now pales in comparison to the hundreds of global dealers across art, design, antiques, and photography who flock to Centro Citibanamex each February to put their latest in front of eagle-eyed collectors who never know what to expect next.

That’s because García tries something new each year. In 2021, the pandemic necessitated remote programming at smaller venues across Mexico City, like Luis Barragán’s elaborate Casa Ortega. This year’s agenda looks inward, celebrating the fair’s 20-year milestone with special new initiatives like Forma, which situates large-scale sculptures around the crowded aisles. Expect an immersive installation by Osvaldo Gonzalez and a giant vase by Eduardo Sarabia. The fair will also team up with Vienna’s Erarta Foundation on awarding a $100,000 prize—what Zona Maco’s newly hired artistic director Direlia Lazo believes is the biggest in fair history—to a standout artwork chosen by attendees. Curated sections plumb topics like “pressure and politics” and “generosity and care” that speak to the current moment. “We don’t aim to have a consensus,” Lazo tells ARTnews. “You can see different points of view.”

Though this year’s fair strikes a celebratory tone, it arrives during a time of wealth pouring into the city. Waves of digital nomads who flocked to the city’s ritzy neighborhoods like Condesa and Roma are supercharging gentrification and the country’s well-documented struggles with income inequality. The influx of wealth has prompted the arrival of global galleries like Morán Morán, Mariane Ibrahim, and König Galerie to ride the wave, but artists have long sought the city’s spacious studios and affordable prices. “It’s a super vibrant city for art, design, cinema, and food,” artistic director Jérôme Sans tells Artsy. “There are good places to produce work and a rich history for appreciating it.”

In Their Own Words: The renewed attention on Mexico City has motivated García to make Zona Maco into the most compelling fair possible while also growing at a reasonable rate. “We want to maintain the quality,” García says. “We don’t want to make a bigger fair. We need to focus on making this one better than ever, but not do more.”

Surface Says: If you’re in town but need a break from the fair, keep scrolling for an offsite show that blends the best of modern architecture and collectible design.

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Italian ladderback chairs, Belgian Cle tiles, vintage Dutch stained oak seating, and German pendant lights from the ‘70s are just a few of the eye-catching gems New Yorkers will catch at Theodora, a new Mediterranean restaurant in Fort Greene. Chef-owner Tomer Blechman teamed up with the talents at Home Studios to imbue the space with warmth and refinement. The local studio rose to the task through a mix of stucco, oak furnishings, and sand-hued zellige tiles, all of which maximize the restaurant’s sun-drenched bar and dining room.

Diners with an especially discerning eye will recognize the mark of several independent makers: whether it’s Kimmy Quillin’s hand-painted murals, bathroom sconces by In Common With, and custom lighting crafted in collaboration with Ben & Aja Blanc Studio. Just don’t forget to scour the dinner and wine menu with that same attentiveness. General manager and wine director Maggie Dahill, an alumna of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, has cultivated one of the best by-the-glass wine lists this side of the East River. For dinner, don’t sleep on the crudo menu—toro, hiramasa, kampachi, and wood-fired beets—or salmon belly with tahini and swordfish skewers.

When Nilufar founder Nina Yashar launched Open Edition at this past year’s Milan Design Week, the result—an energetic curation of contemporary collectible design by the likes of Gal Gaon and Sophie Dries—presented a compelling snapshot of vanguard design talents. That curation has now landed at Mexico City Art Week at the home of late architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, a modernist marvel with a secluded courtyard, wood-paneled rooms, and religious paintings by his wife, Olga. The offbeat environs provide a welcome backdrop to the lustrous hues and adventurous forms of Open Edition’s furniture, objects, and lighting, among them ceiling glass lamps by Analogia Project and fluid-like 3D-printed vases by Audrey Large. They also join handmade rugs that Bethan Laura Wood and David/Nicolas created for CC-Tapis.

The showcase establishes local design retailer Studio 84 as the premier destination for Mexico’s surging design sphere to source Nilufar’s range. It speaks not only to the prominence of art fair Zona Maco on the cultural calendar, but how Yashar leverages design to spark cross-cultural conversations. “Design, at its core, is a dialogue—about society, the convergence of eras, routines, and aspirations,” Yashar says. “It’s a conversation that must unfold among its creators. This collaboration provides exactly that opportunity, affirming that the timeline of design is endlessly unfolding, navigating an imprecise and concurrently precise path through time.”

Our weekly roundup of the internet’s most preposterous headlines, from the outrageous to the outright bizarre.

Sauna Patrons Dressed Only in Towels Pull 2 From a Car That Plunged Into a Norwegian Fjord [AP]

Long Arm of the Claw: Police Rescue Queensland Toddler Stuck in Hello Kitty Claw Machine [The Guardian]

Russia Fires Genetic Institute Chief Who Claimed Humans Lived 900 Years [HuffPost]

Raccoon Mischief Triggers Blackout in Toronto, Trapping People in Elevators [Reuters]

Influencer Gets Fake Belly Button Tattoo—to Make Herself Look Taller [New York Post]

Man Whose Face Was Chewed Off by Bear Gets “Ultimate Revenge” by Turning It Into Kebabs [Mirror]

A globally renowned glassblower who grew up in a family of respected kimono makers and has fabricated pieces for Lindsey Adelman, Michiko Sakano has lately focused on freeing the glass she makes from hardware constraints and pre-set specifications. Her latest collection, a series of lighting fixtures that recently debuted at Heller Gallery, captures the spontaneity and discipline of the craft through expressive, molten-like forms captured in mid-movement.

Earlier this past week, Ten to One Rum founder and CEO Marc Farrell convened friends from the arts, fashion, hospitality, and Hollywood for a salon-style evening to celebrate Black History Month. The festivities coincided with the launch of Ten to One’s newest addition to its lineup, a Five Origin Select sipping rum sourced from five Caribbean countries. Salon guests enjoyed a first taste of the new Select, as well as specialty cocktails featuring the brand’s signature rums.

When was it? Feb. 5

Where was it? The Georgia Room, New York

Who was there? Joshua Renfroe, Taylor Hawkins, Clay Williams, Camari Mick, Sandy Singh, Miles Hicks, BMAJR, and more.

Grounded in the world of international fine art, Brooklyn-based Callidus Guild conceives, designs, and installs surfaces and wallpapers for the world’s most illustrious clients. Callidus Guild is known for an elevated, one-of-a-kind aesthetic that incorporates plasters, precious metals, and handmade paints.

Surface Says: Owner and creative director Yolande Milan Batteau’s creations—from her wallpapers to gilded mirrors— are infused with a sense of magic. That aura radiates from her verdant and charming Clinton Hill studio, too.

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