The Proposal
dir. Jill Magid 2018 USA 85 min.
2019 – Rotterdam IFF, 2010 – Doc Point Helsinki, 2019 – MFF Göteborg / Göteborg IFF, 2018 – Hot Docs Toronto: Honorable Mention-Emerging International Filmmaker Award, 2018 – Sheffield Doc Fest: Honorable Mention: New Talent Award, 2018 – Vancouver IFF, 2018 –Montreal IFF, 2018 – Tribeca FF, 2018 – Hamptons IFF, 2018 – Camden FF
After the death of one of the most original modernist architects, Luis Barragán, his archive was sold to the Vitra Design Museum in Switzerland. The film follows the course of a controversial project by conceptual artist Jill Magid as she attempts to gain access to the architect's work.
Read more
”The Proposal” follows conceptual artist and writer Jill Magid as she develops an unorthodox project to explore artistic legacy. It takes as its subject the Pritzker Prize winning Mexican architect Luis Barragán, which is aggressively "protected” by its Swiss copyright holders, at the expense of public access. Barragán's professional archive – including the rights to his name and work – was acquired in 1995 by Swiss furniture company Vitra, under the auspices of the Barragan Foundation. The foundation is directed by the wife of Vitra's chairman at the time , who allegedly bought the archive for his then-fiancée as an engagement gift. The project that ”The Proposal” documents has raised an extended debate in Mexico on Barragán's archives.
