Email: simonballenbotero@gmail.com
Simón Ballen Botero (*1992) is a Colombian product designer currently based between Amsterdam and Medellín. He has lived and studied in Colombia, Italy, Finland, Iceland, Greenland and the Netherlands where he graduated from the Man and Wellbeing department at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2018. Through his work, he researches the intangible relations between objects, people and local traditions. Simón has built a practice of collaborations with different artisans, craftsmen and local communities using design as a tool for critical discourse and empowerment. He has developed a body of work focused on the use of local resources and local materials to create sustainable solutions with the communities and contexts he works in. Although being trained as a designer, his practice is built in close relation to the fields of anthropology and material culture, through which he explores issues related to ecology, identity, heritage and colonialism.
Simón participated in multiple residencies and collaborative projects including a month-long residency project in Nuuk, Greenland with the Hors Pistes Project. In 2019 he was selected as one of the finalists at Design Parade Hyeres in Villa Noailles and received the special prize from Eyes on Talent and Frame Magazine. In 2020 his collection ‘Miranda’ was awarded Bronze in the product category at the Latin American Design Awards. Simon was one of the three artists representing the Netherlands in the Bornholm Glass Biennale in 2021. His work has been exhibited at the Dutch Design Week, Milan Design Week, Medellin Design Week and different galleries and museums like MUDAC, CID Grand-Hornu, Bornholm Art Museum, the Scottsdale Museum in the US, the Frozen Fountain in Amsterdam, Kazerne in Eindhoven, and Nilufar Gallery in Milan. His work was published in Dezeen, Wallpaper Magazine, Elle Decoration, DesignBoom, Domus and Frame Magazine. Simon has actively participated in several talks and workshops at different events/fairs, symposiums and institutions.
From 2019 to the end of 2021, Simón collaborated with Studio Formafantasma in Amsterdam as a design researcher, concept developer, and studio manager. During this time, he worked on developing sustainability strategies for Artek, and contributed to Cambio, a research project with the Serpentine Galleries in London. Since 2022 Simón serves as a research leader and creative manager in the design and communication departments at EWE studio in Mexico City.
Simón continues to pursue independent design projects, collaborations, and consultancy work with various brands and organizations.
CV
Design Exhibitions
2024 _ ARTBO Bogota Art Week (Bogota, Colombia)
Objetar curated by Liliana Andrade
2022 _ Atelier MUJI (Tokyo, Japan)
Research! Design with Fascinating Processes
2022 _ Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
It’s Our F***ing Backyard
2021_ Bornholm Art Museum. (Bornholm, Denmark)
European Glass Context - Biennial for contemporary European Glass
2021_ Casa Enso (Retiro, Colombia)
Solo Show - Suelo Orfebre
2021 _ La Villete (Paris, France)
’Infinite Creativity for a Finite World’
2021 _ Le Kiosque, Centre d’Action Culturelle (Mayenne, France)
Nuit Blanche
2020_ Nilufar Gallery (Milan, Italy)
FAR Brassless
2020 _ Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (AZ, USA)
Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined
2019 _ Georgetown University Art Galleries (DC, USA)
Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined
2019 _ MUDAC. Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts. (Switzerland)
Conversation between Craftsmen and Designers - Hors Pistes
2019 _ Dutch Design Week
HOW & WOW, Crafts Council Netherlands & Zuidezee Museum
2019_ Medellin Design Week. ( Medellin, Colombia)
“Esto No Es Copia”, Bodega Central
2019 _Villa Noailles, ( Hyeres, France )
Design Parade Hyeres. **Winner Eyes on Talent x FRAME Award
2019 _ 'Hope' Exhibition at Kazerne Eindhoven ( Netherlands )
Curated by Ilse Crawford and Oscar Peña
2019 _ FrozenFountain (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Future Classics
2019 _ CID Grand-Hornu. ( Boussu, Belgium )
Rencontres au Greenland - Hors Pistes Project
2019 _ Merci (Paris, France)
Valeur(s) Exhibition
2018_ Dutch Design Week. ( Eindhoven, Netherlands )
Graduation Show G18. Design Academy Eindhoven
2017_ Lokal Museum Nuuk. ( Nuuk, Greenland )
Hors Pistes Exhibition. Design residency in Greenland .
2017 _ Dutch Design Week. (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
DENF Exhibition . “Children of the Sun”
2016 _ Milan Design Week. (Milan, Italy)
Film programming at TouchBase Exhibition DAE.
2015 _ Arctic Design Week. (Rovaniemi, Finland)
“Material Freedom” Beyond Books. Lapland University.
Experience:
Researcher / Creative Manager at EWE Studio
Mexico City / 2022 - 2025
Designer at Studio Formafantasma
Amsterdam, Netherlands / 2019 - 2021
Freelancer at Perceptual
Medellin, Colombia / 2018 - Present
Design Residency Hors Pistes Project - Working with local craftspeople
Nuuk, Greenland / Summer 2017
Internship at Studio Formafantasma
Amsterdam, Netherlands / March - July 2017
Assisting Teresa van Dongen - DDW Exhibitions
Eindhoven, Netherlands / October 2014 & 2015
Product Development Intern at Perceptual Studio
Medellin, Colombia / July - August 2014
Teaching Assistant and Student tutor at EAFIT University
Medellin, Colombia / 2011 - 2013
Education:
Vrije University Amsterdam / Summer course Anthropology and Ethnographic Storytelling
Amsterdam, Netherlands / Summer 2021
Design Academy Eindhoven / Man & Well Being
Eindhoven, Netherlands / 2014 - 2018
Icelandic Academy of Arts / Exchange Program at Product Design department
Reykjavik, Iceland / Autumn 2016
University of Lapland / Exchange Program at Faculty of Industrial Design
Rovaniemi, Finland / 2013 - 2014
IED - Istituto Europeo di Design / Summer course in Italian Product Design
Milan, Italy / Summer 2012
EAFIT University / Product Design Engineering
Medellin, Colombia / 2010 - 2013 - 2021
Montessori High School
Medellin, Colombia / 2009
- For a more detailed CV don't hesitate to contact me