El The Franz Mayer Museum has designed a very extensive exhibition calendar for 2026 with which will commemorate four decades of cultural activity in the heart of Mexico City's Historic Center. Throughout the year, exhibitions, evening events, workshops, and new gallery openings will take place, always with design and decorative arts as the common thread.
The institution, created from the collection of German philanthropist Franz Mayer, faces this anniversary with the intention of to reaffirm its vocation as a living museum, attentive to the presentHence, its programming combines historical reviews, technological reflection on Artificial Intelligence, biodesign proposals, and an obvious nod to the World Cup context that Mexico will experience.
An anniversary marked by football, design and technology
As its director explained, Giovana JaspersenThe museum will celebrate the anniversary with about fifteen exhibitions that will explore different creative languages but maintain a clear core: design understood in a broad sense, from everyday objects to the great visual narratives of sport and technology.
One of the proposals expected to attract the most attention will be “Football: Designing a passion”With this exhibition, Franz Mayer joins the World Cup fever sweeping the country. Curated by football historian and sports heritage specialist Kevin Moore, founder of the National Football Museum in England, the exhibition will cover the nine World Cups held in the Americas, from Uruguay 1930 to the upcoming tournament.
The expository discourse will focus on how design permeates the entire World Cup ecosystemStadium architecture, signage, official publications, graphic design of posters and tickets, team uniforms, and even the aesthetics of television broadcastingIn addition, there will be a carefully curated selection of memorabilia, photographs, and objects used by figures such as Pelé, Diego Armando Maradona, Hugo Sánchez, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In parallel, the museum will incorporate a critical perspective on new technologies with “AI: Beyond Human”An exhibition from the Barbican Centre in London. immersive proposal, with interactive installations and stations, which explores the relationship between people and Artificial Intelligence and how it is transforming creative processes in contemporary art, design and culture.
Both exhibitions will be displayed alongside other initiatives that address design from social, historical and experimental perspectives, reinforcing the idea of the museum as a laboratory where the past constantly dialogues with the future.
New spaces and a focus on creative processes
To mark the anniversary, the Franz Mayer is not only updating its exhibition program, but also It opens the Design and Processes Room and the Living Design Library, two spaces designed to show how a piece is created before it reaches the display case or shop window.
The exhibition that will kick off these galleries is “Mockups before Fuckups. Models, prototypes and the craft of design”This exhibition champions the importance of mistakes, sketches, and experimentation in the work of designers and creators. Through models, prototypes, and project documentation, it underscores the idea that intermediate failures are a necessary step toward final solutions.
The 2026 program, however, begins with another exhibition of an architectural and social nature: “They wanted a house; I proposed creating a home for them.”This research, supported by a Graham Foundation grant, analyzes domestic environments that depart from the hegemonic norms of architecture, proposing more inclusive spaces that are attentive to the political and affective dimensions of housing.
Both proposals fall within the museum's established lines of work, such as "Architecture at the Franz" or "Sustainable Franz," through which the institution seeks to approach design from a critical and contemporary perspectivebeyond the beautiful or functional object.
Folk art, biodesign and historical collections
The 40th anniversary calendar will also make room for folk art and design practices linked to the organicFrom the Ruth D. Lechuga Center for Popular Art Studies, “Animals and Fantastic Beings: Mexican Popular Ceramics in the Ruth D. Lechuga Collection” will be presented, a selection of 57 pieces that make up an authentic bestiary of clay and other materials.
Along the same lines of exploration of materiality is situated “Biodesign Mx. Living Territories”Identified as the first major biodesign exhibition in Mexico, the show features projects by emerging artists and designers, offering a vision of design that integrates past and future, emphasizing the interdependence of living beings and the need for creation to be respectful of ecosystems.
The connection with the museum's founder will be very present in “Germany in the Franz Mayer Collection”where a selection of the approximately 300 pieces from present-day Germany that Franz Mayer collected during the first half of the 20th century will be exhibited. This section will allow visitors to see up close decorated wastepaper baskets, silver objects, books, and other materials that reflect his bibliophilic and collecting tastes.
Another strong point will be the sample “Dürer: The first viral artist”The exhibition focuses on Albrecht Dürer, the artist with the largest presence in the museum's collection. Featuring 36 works by the German artist, the exhibition proposes a reinterpretation of his work as a precursor to contemporary visual culture, highlighting how his prints proliferated and circulated widely in his time.
The international dialogue is completed with “The Vanity of Small Differences. Grayson Perry”The British artist will present textile works inspired by William Hogarth's series of prints, "The Rake's Progress." These pieces will explore themes such as social mobility, class, and aesthetic taste, in dialogue with historical prints from the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Photojournalism, graphic design and specialized fairs
Within the section dedicated to contemporary image, the Franz Mayer will once again host the exhibition “World Press Photo 70th anniversary”Specially prepared for the museum to mark the seventieth anniversary of the prestigious photojournalism competition, this exhibition will bring together some of the most influential winning photographs of the last seven decades, highlighting the enduring relevance of photojournalism in an image-saturated world.
The museum will also celebrate the International Poster Biennial 2026, an event that, every two years, fills the cloister with contemporary graphic design and has established itself as a platform for exchange among design professionals. Posters from various countries will be displayed alongside parallel activities aimed at students and specialists.
Mexican design will have a prominent presence at the exhibition. “Design Mexico”which will occupy the cloister as a ritual exhibition dedicated to the best proposals in industrial, graphic, digital, product, and fashion design in the country. This will be complemented by the second edition of MDF Mexico Design Fair at the Franz Mayer, where the works of the person recognized as Designer of the Year will be presented, whose proposals question the status quo and have an impact on the industry.
The agenda is completed with more commercial events but linked to the spirit of collecting at the museum, such as the traditional orchid exhibition and sale, dedicated this year to species that bloom in spring. This event revives Franz Mayer's passion for botany and orchid cultivation, filling the central cloister with color.
In parallel, the museum will continue to host activities such as the "Tradition and Design" exhibition and sale around Craftsman's Day or the "From A to Franz" festival, linked to International Book Day, which open the venue to communities linked to design, reading and decorative arts.
Nighttime activities and young audiences
Beyond the exhibitions, the museum has planned an intense schedule of activities to strengthen the bond with its visitorsThe so-called “Franz Nights” will offer, on the last Wednesday of each month, extended experiences with concerts, guided tours, recreational activities and extended hours.
To kick off the year, the venue has announced a “Royal Sleepover” in January's Museum Night, which will combine the opening of "They wanted a house; I proposed creating a home" with music, question games in the auditorium, bracelet making, skincare sessions and special tours of the rooms.
These proposals add to a constant offering of workshops, talks, film series and activations Designed for diverse audiences, from design professionals to families and curious young people. According to the museum itself, a significant portion of its current audience is between 20 and 30 years old, a demographic the institution aims to continue cultivating with more interactive formats.
The Franz Mayer maintains its usual opening hours, from Tuesday to Sunday, and takes advantage of the anniversary to to position itself as a space for coexistence, learning and experimentation, beyond a specific visit to a particular exhibition.
Throughout 2026, the Franz Mayer Museum reinforces its role as one of the leading institutions for design and decorative arts in the Spanish-speaking world, developing a program that includes World Cup football, Artificial Intelligence, biodesign, photojournalism, and historical collections, all with the intention of remaining a museum that is approachable, critical, and open to the cultural debates of our time.
