The Monday Media Diet with Daniela Elbahara

Daniela Elbahara (DE) is a very smart friend of WITI and a former New York resident. She was a Fulbright scholar and now resides back in Mexico City where she is a gallery owner and entrepreneur. We’re pleased to have her on the page today. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I am a gallery owner and contemporary art entrepreneur from Monterrey, México (based in Mexico City for 15 years now). I founded and directed the Yautepec Gallery, the Material Art Fair Mexico, the Daniela Elbahara (Gallery), and The League Mx (a hip-hop music label for emerging artists). My most recent project is Salon Cosa, a gathering of contemporary art objects founded by Mexico´s top design curator Mario Ballesteros and myself in April 2021. 

Describe your media diet. 

Google calendar to see what I have planned for the day. 

Whatsapp to check all the urgent messages from the galleries, collaborators, artists, clients, plus Mario´s messages. 

After that, I learn about what's up through my four Instagram accounts (@delbahara, the personal one, @danielaelbahara the gallery one, @the_league_mx the hip-hop one, and occasionally @saloncosa the art objects fair). Through each of them, I follow accounts that are related to what I promote or do with that account. In my personal one, I follow my friend´s initiatives too like @nochenegra (Mariana Maduro´s tropical Latin American vinyl dance parties), design stores @vangalestudio, fashion brands @newbottega @etudes @stussy @acnestudios @tierramala @barragan @muchacarne and lifestyle magazines @tmagazine @interviewmag @love.watts @seereverseforcare @ellemexico @wmag (and no, I don´t follow meme accounts because everyone keeps reposting them anyway in their stories). Through my gallery, I follow @everette (Artsy CEO), @t_b_t (Terence Trouillot, Frieze Editor), my artists @robledo_hugo, @carolinafusilier @yogawithjesi @fabian_ramz @ricardo_gonzalez_v, @osesnoecheverria @compasssion plus museums, grants, and cultural centers as well as curators. Through The League, it's all about hip hop and I follow @ye @pigsandplans @remezcla @fuckjerry.tv, @hypebeast @diegourdaineta (Vice journalist and Spotify rep) @onerpmmx @bestoutrightnow @sportscenter @complexcon @mikecherman @1amradio @lust.mexico (most important sneaker store in Mexico) @thesource @hypebae @jackshainman @nba and record labels, artists, festivals, etc… And through Salón Cosa´s account, I follow @mexicanezas @marioballe @dezeen @wallpapermag @architecturaldigest @terminal.27 @sized_ltd @kristendelavalliere @somewhereiwouldliketolive @sightunseen 

After that… I listen to my Discovery Weekly playlist, Release Radar playlist, Novedades de Viernes playlist, Rap Caviar, Hip-hop Mexico, a couple of podcasts, and at night I play Jazz for sleeping playlist all in Spotify.

I also watch films, series, and documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

What’s the last great book you read?

Liquid Modernity by Zigmund Bauman and a Napoleon Bonaparte biopic took me ages to finish.

What are you reading now?

Les Belles Images by Simone de Beauvoir and Don´t Call me Princess essays on Girls, Women Sex and Life by Peggy Orenstein. 

Plus print W Mag, Elle Mexico Mag, and Vogue USA mag.

And, no... I don´t do newspapers, or news broadcasters at all. I stay in my lane and create my world. I know the world is fucked so I try to stay positive hence no twitter either.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

If it is a magazine (I still buy a lot of printed magazines) I flip through the pages in the stand/store from the back to the front, then, I slowly start dissecting the mag from the cover all the way to the back as if I was decoding a new language. I check out all the ads, (to learn who invests the most in their brands), the Editor´s letters, the index, etc. I go through the whole thing during my free time. 

If it is a book, I have it by my nightstand and read it at night when I have a chance. I always have at least two books at the same time. And no, I don't skip a page. I follow las reglas! (Ed- Follow las reglas is a longstanding inside joke between us. -CJN)

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

I will say my emails requesting stuff for Cosa… Salón Cosa´s 3rd edition will happen in Feb and I'm working towards that. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

I keep it minimal. I don't have any non-famous apps in there.

Plane or train?

Plane. Quicker.

What is one place everyone should visit? 

Monterrey, Mexico, the true industrial capital of my beloved country. We've got amazing mountains, food, design, and very creative people. 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

Dating apps? (Im newly single) (DE)

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Finance newsletter of the day:

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An ongoing partnership where we highlight interesting McKinsey research, writing, and data.

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Daniela (DE)

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