PRESS RELEASE
New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has one of the world’s biggest collections of modern art, with over 200,000 works from around the world. The collection is constantly expanding, and in its latest selection process the museum decided to include Better Shelter’s emergency shelter into its permanent collection.
The permanent collection at MoMa includes modern and contemporary works from paintings and sculptures to architecture, design and film. It features pioneering artists and designers such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Wes Anderson. When a work is included in the 200,000 strong permanent collection it stays there in perpetuity, reflecting the collection’s purpose to preserve objects and art that in some way symbolize the spirit of their times. As well as the Better Shelter, the pride movement’s rainbow flag has recentlybeen selected to join the permanent collection.
“The refugee crisis is the contemporary society’s biggest challenge, and it will require an enormous amount of innovation to produce long-term improvements in living conditions for refugees. We are, obviously, very proud to have been included in MoMA’s permanent collection, and we hope we can inspire more designers to use their talents to help improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people,” said Johan Karlsson, Interim Managing Director of Better Shelter.
In Autumn 2016, MoMA is running the temporary exhibition insecurities; Tracing Displacement and Shelter. The exhibition raises the question of security in the global refugee crisis, and showcases innovations – including the Better Shelter – which are making a positive contribution. The exhibition runs from 1 October 2016 to 22 January 2017.
Better Shelter is a social enterprise that develops and provides innovative housing solutions for people displaced from their homes due to armed conflicts and natural disasters. Through clever design, innovation and modern technology, Better Shelter works to create safer, more dignified temporary homes for millions of people worldwide. Better Shelter currently collaborates with the IKEA Foundation and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
