In spring 2007, the Museum for African Art presented Design: Made in Africa at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery. The first major traveling exhibition of contemporary African design, Design: Made in Africa presents a selection of 45 objects by 30 designers from 14 African countries. With a jury presided over by Samuel Sidibé, Director of the National Museum of Mali in Bamako, the curators Céline Savoye and Michel Bouisson made an impressive selection from an open call for proposals of interior design objects made in Africa. Design: Made in Africa presents a colorful array of furniture, tapestries, lighting fixtures, and utilitarian objects.   

The exhibition was initiated in 2004 by the Association Française d’Action Artistique (AFAA) in Paris and Saint-Etienne Métropole for the SIAO (International Arts and Crafts Fair in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) and the Saint-Etienne International Design Biennale. Since then the exhibition has been shown in Paris, Milan, Berlin, Lisbon, Stockholm, Madrid, Tokyo and Montréal. Numerous venues in the United States are being negotiated through Blanche Tannery, Director of Visual Arts and Architecture Program Officer, Etant donnés Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York.

Presented April 12-June 24, 2007 at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery, New York, New York.

Co-presented with Arts> World Financial Center.

Design: Made in Africa, co-produced by CulturesFrance and the Cite du Design/Saint-Etienne International Design Biennale, has been supported by the Cutlural 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.