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public health + intergenerational resilience + storytelling + participatory design + workshops + exhibition design
Hope Bodega
Client: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYCEAL
In collaboration with: Riseboro
A participatory project that encourages community members to gather stories of resilience through objects, photographs, scents, and sounds for a multi-sensorial exchange. These objects are meant to hold meaning for the community members, of peace, grounding and upliftment.
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Bodegas are special to New York City, and to those of us who call New York Home. The founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association, Francisco Marte, has called bodegas an “extension of the home” (Untapped New York), and many New Yorkers will understand why. We go to bodegas for snacks to bring to our park visits with our friends and family. We go to bodegas for early morning coffees on our way to work. We go to bodegas for toilet paper when we realize we only have one roll left. Bodegas are always there for us in a pinch. Many of us have come to know that we can rely on our favorite neighborhood bodega for life’s necessities.
Bodegas are special to New York City, and to those of us who call New York Home. The founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association, Francisco Marte, has called bodegas an “extension of the home” (Untapped New York), and many New Yorkers will understand why. We go to bodegas for snacks to bring to our park visits with our friends and family. We go to bodegas for early morning coffees on our way to work. We go to bodegas for toilet paper when we realize we only have one roll left. Bodegas are always there for us in a pinch. Many of us have come to know that we can rely on our favorite neighborhood bodega for life’s necessities.
Workshop Design & Implementation
The workshop was designed to include ~25 participants between ages 40-65 from the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. In smaller groups, members were encouraged to share their object and its significance through a show & share. As members exchanged their stories, others listened, laughed, cried, and hugged. From photographs of lost loved ones to handmade jewelery and self authored poems, we witnessed an exchange of life stories that brought everyone together.
Immersing myself into the community’s conversations.
Continued interaction and relationship building.
Taking a step back to observe unmediated conversations.
Absorbing the interactions, documentation.
Facilitation of small group show & share
Public Space Design
The objects were curated and installed in a temporary public space exhibition bringing our Hope Bodega to life. Each object was tagged with a QR code which you can scan and listen to the original narrative, becoming a part of the collective. The visual and spatial design was inspired by local bodegas in the Bushwick neighborhood in all its glory. From lights and flags to new product flyers in shades of neon. Vegetable crates were repurposed to create aisles, each stacked with more objects from people’s homes. A pile of red kidney beans in one corner, toilet paper in another, hand sanitizers, and magazines and recyclables from our homes made for storage containers - all perfectly completing the shelves.
Facilitation of small group show & share.
Creating visual assets using the objects and narratives such as fliers, posters, spatial graphics.
Designing the physical exhibition.
Next Steps
The Hope Bodega will continue to grow across neighborhoods in New York city with the support of CEAL. We will be working with an organization in Harlem and Brownsville, Brooklyn next. To learn more about this project or plan a storytelling and design workshop, drop me a line on work@vrindamathur.com