Milena Denis Polania

//Artist and designer

// February 2026

Photo: Roxane Cassehgari Posada

Milena is a French-Colombian designer. She grew up between Spain and France, where she graduated with honours in design, graphic design and interior architecture in 2017. Her master's project in design was exhibited during the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2017 and Paris Design Week in 2018.

She has been working in Paris for five years as a product and furniture designer. She trained and collaborated with renowned Parisian agencies such as Dan Yeffet Studio, Jouin Manku and Bruno Moinard Éditions until 2024, when she founded Milena Denis Polania Design Studio. Her work is currently published by the Kolkhoze Gallery (Paris), with which she presents a collection of moulded leather furniture entitled Bold, and by Haymann Éditions (Paris) since 2024.

In early 2024, she began her first research project in Colombia. She completed a six-week artistic residency in El Boga, Mompox, with the aim of learning about and interacting with different local crafts, as well as experimenting with new forms and objects made using traditional techniques. Back in Paris, she opened her studio to new disciplines, collaborating on several set design projects (Lo Nuestro Paris, Pro Club Europe), and continued to develop collections for different brands. In January 2026, the Samy desk, designed for Haymann Éditions, was selected to be part of the Mobilier National's acquisitions, within the French State's design collections.

El Boga Residency

This second residency in El Boga aims to integrate some of what was learned and shared in 2024, in order to initiate new experiments and creations of objects together with the artisans of Mompox and the neighbouring townships. The project is part of ongoing research into objects and their relationship with the territory, material memory and traditional crafts. Through experimentation, the aim is to generate new types of objects that emerge from the dialogue between local craft techniques and a contemporary approach to design. The objective is to develop a small collection of marketable objects (prototypes) that will support and raise the profile of the work of Mompox artisans, while respecting the rhythms, materials and logic of each craft.

Documentation plays a central role in the project. Photographs, videos, drawings and texts will accompany the creative process to give an account not only of the final results, but also of the gestures, exchanges and decisions that take place along the way. This documentation is understood as a tool for transmission, capable of revealing the methodology of the project and opening up new interpretations of the relationship between contemporary design and traditional techniques from an ethical and sensitive approach.

At the same time, the residency incorporates an educational dimension through a drawing and collage workshop focused on objects from Mompox's domestic and public spaces. Students from educational institutions or individuals interested in the subject are invited to observe, reinterpret and question their everyday environment. The workshop encourages reflection on materials, craftsmanship and their cultural value, promoting a conscious view of local material heritage and its potential for transformation.

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Contact @milenadenispolania