Fragmentos De Mar exhibiton by davidpompa – All photos are courtesy of the studio.

Design. Lighting design studio Davidpompa and Contramar restaurant joined forces during Mexico City Art Week 2026 to present Fragmentos De Mar, an exhibition that reflects on transformation, memory and the poetry of materials. At its core is a shell composite made from discarded shells, reimagined as a material that carries a story of origin, renewal and circular making.

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The exhibition centres on a lighting collection that interprets Pompa’s minimal, streamlined language. “This collaboration draws from the sea, its movement, its fragments,” explains the studio’s founder David Pompa. The resulting pieces translate marine rhythms into refined forms, where restraint and material intelligence take centre stage.

Sourced from Puerto Libertad, where Contramar’s long-standing fishermen and suppliers harvest the three clam varieties central to this project, the shells carry the cadence and flavour of the sea before entering a new material narrative.

Through sculptural lighting and culinary interpretation, the exhibition explores how nature’s remnants become vessels of memory. It traces the journey of matter: “from sea to table, from table to object, from object to collective memory.” New pieces developed by the studio employ the Bio Shell Composite, presented alongside a series of artworks that reveal the material’s texture, density, and origin, reinforcing the conceptual framework of Fragmentos De Mar.

The collaboration with Contramar “extends beyond the table: it becomes a conversation about process and legacy,” continues David Pompa. Each dish and each object reflects a shared pursuit of precision, respect for materials and a deep commitment to craft.

Throughout the week, Contramar offers a special culinary moment inspired by the processes showcased in the exhibition—an interpretation rooted in daily practice that honours ingredients and traditional preparations, while echoing the themes explored in the design work.

Fragmentos De Mar ultimately unfolds as a multisensory encounter in which process, light and material converge within a narrative shaped by the sea. The space becomes a social moment too: a gathering point where design, gastronomy and community meet through shared experience.

All photos are courtesy of studio davidpompa.