CuMMA Discourse Series # 6

TOLEDO i DERTSCHEI (exhibition designers, Vienna) in conversation with Nora Sternfeld

In their role as designers the team of Toledo i Dertschei are particularly interested in the question of how society is designed. Such thoughts about the role of power and the representation of that power not only continuously inform the work of the two graphic designers but also increasingly affect their critical approach to their own discipline. Eva Dertschei and Carlos Toledo are as preoccupied with investigating language and letter as they are with employing them in a way that lends an effective voice to themes and initiatives which are not adequately represented in public debate. In this work, content is always more important than style and visual effectiveness (which is naturally defined on a case-by-case basis) more important than elegant design. Their work is always political, often striking and sometimes propagandistic, but in every case it is intelligent and reflective. It ranges from the design and conception of a series of exhibitions such as �Remapping Mozart� which was held to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer�s birth in 2006, to the graphic and editorial responsibility for the magazine �Bildpunkt� for the IG Bildende Kunst and the voluntary visual and contentual support of the �First of March� initiative, which seeks to mobilise opinion against the prevailing migration policy in Austria.