Disappearing act

A Guatemalan design studio traces a journey of displacement through craf

- WRITER: ZAC PROCTER

Shaped by natural disaster and civil war, the Guatemalan city of Antigua has a history as restless as the volcanic earth on which it sits.

Creative studio Nada Duele is the latest practice of young makers reckoning with that heritage, both material and political. Its new collection traces a journey of displacement in five pieces handcrafted by local artisans, which becomes an exploration of their very disappearance. An exodus of Guatemalan talent (a number estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands each year) is one such challenge these designers have actually lived, not just observed. This series of objects – beautiful at first glance, unsettling at second – is born of a demand to translate that story. With families fractured, cultural identity unravelling, and an economy weakened by the loss of skilled work, it’s not only the past that’s slipping away, but the future of Guatemala with it.