Museum of Design Atlanta's social justice exhibit opens this weekend

MODA's summer exhibit features the work of Bulgarian artist Luba Lukova.

Credit: Jewel Wicker

Credit: Jewel Wicker

MODA's summer exhibit features the work of Bulgarian artist Luba Lukova.

Museum of Design Atlanta has been closed for a few weeks in preparation for its upcoming exhibit, which opens tomorrow. While the Atlanta attraction has been closed to the public, MODA staff, artist Luba Lukova and others have been tucked away inside, working to install the various pieces of the upcoming interactive exhibit, which invites visitors to reflect on social justice.

The museum reopens with "Luba Lukova: Designing Justice" this Sunday.

Here are five things to know about the Atlanta museum's summer exhibit ahead of the opening:

The "Designing Justice" exhibit displays the poster art from Bulgarian artist Luba Lukova. The New York-based artist's work, which is known for its simplicity (many of the images only feature 2-3 colors) and its social commentary, is on display at the local museum from June 4-Sept. 3. 

The goal for "Designing Justice," like all of the exhibits at MODA, is to get visitors talking about how they can effect change. The imagery used to promote the exhibit displays a set of hands rubbing a pencil and sparking a fire. The image is displayed at the beginning of the exhibit, depicting that Lukova and MODA are hoping to "start a fire" or spark a conversation among museum visitors. "Fundamental justice is at the core of everything we do," Lukova said. "We cannot stop the wars or fix the economy, but we can make people think."

 Photo courtesy of MODA

Credit: Jewel Wicker

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Credit: Jewel Wicker

The exhibit features Lukova's series from 2008, but it is still relevant today. Social Justice 2008 includes a series of posters commenting on various social issues, including media "brainwashing," healthcare and more. Much of the series is displayed together on a yellow wall towards the beginning of the exhibit. Other popular pieces from the series, including a pie that depicts the "income gap" is featured elsewhere in "Designing Justice."

The exhibit is interactive and features a section that will allow visitors to create their own poster art. Visitors will be encouraged to get creative and design a poster that offers their own social commentary at the museum. After they've finished, they can hang their poster art on a wall located across from some of Lukova's work.

"Designing Justice" came together in a month after an exhibit had to be rescheduled. "Designing a Playful City" was scheduled to open this month, but the curator had a "family emergency" that caused the exhibit to be postponed until 2018. Laura Flusche, MODA's executive director, said Luba Lukova's scheduled lecture at SCAD earlier this year coincided with her search to find a replacement exhibit. Flusche said she loved the timelessness of Lukova's work, noting that the "Designing Justice" exhibit "seemed meant to be."