AfricanArt.org

Upcoming Events


bullet  MORE EVENTS

Recent News


bullet  VIEW ALL

New In Store

The Beautiful Time: Photography by Sammy Baloji
The Beautiful Time presents recent photographs and large-scale photomontages by Sammy Baloji.
MORE INFO

PAST EXHIBITIONS

Design: Made in Africa

Design Made in Africa is the result of an international call for projects from designers who create items of everyday use produced in Africa. In workshops held in various African cities, local designers and fabricators worked with guest designers to come up with objects that met local needs, but that incorporated ideas from around the world. The selections in this exhibition represent the work of thirty designers from fourteen countries, span all of the major geographical and cultural areas of the continent, and embody diverse creative trends. The designs relate to daily life and include furniture, lighting, tableware, and tapestries, as well as street furniture, graphic design, and body ornaments. All meet the requirement that they be useful objects for contemporary life in urban and rural Africa.

 

The works featured in Design Made in Africa result from the fusing of traditional techniques with modern materials. Many are simple, minimalist designs purposely removed from most obvious cultural references. Others are based on designers’ observations about how objects are used in daily life: for example, how people gather to eat a meal, or how furnishings serve many purposes at once. While these designs draw on African materials and cultural practices, as well as the ideas of many African and Western artists working in Africa today, they are not traditional in the sense of being a continuation of forms that could be associated with particular cultural styles. The approach of all these contemporary designers is very much of the moment—they are exploring the potential of the African continent as a place where modern design is flourishing and adapting to the lifestyles of people today. 

Design: Made in Africa has been supported by the Cultural Services of the French embassy in the US, American Express, HIP Health Plan of New York, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Back to List