Time for African Design

Thanks so much to readers Megan of Fresh Pink Style and also to Maria of NoSideUp for sending me a whole bunch of leads that have told me lots more about the Moroso / Urquiola / Africa connection I asked for some help with in a post a while back. One of the links included an article at Yatzer, explaining that Patricia Urquiola devised an event that drew on African designers’ expertise to create new products, which were then exhibited in the Moroso showroom in Milan.

Bibi Seck and Ayse Birse making Madame Dakar

Designers Bibi Seck and Ayse Birsel used traditional wire weaving techniques to make a range of furniture, including this oversized chair called Madame Dakar. Tord Boontje used the same method for his Shadowy collection (below), all of which is produced in African countries for Moroso.

Shadowy collection by Tord Boontje

This is what Patricia Urquiola has to say about what African design has to offer:

“Multifaceted, modern Africa deserves to be known and sustained for the originality of the creative languages with which it enriches global culture. The African continent is extraordinarily rich in creativity, materials and ideas that are sources of inspiration and nourishment for us. When applied to design, they engender products which exude tradition and modernity, innovation and history, form and beauty.

I think there is so much of Africa and in this event my intent was to showcase the creativity of a few of the great artists and personalities of contemporary African culture. Going beyond the stereotypes that present Africa as a tragic or, at best, exotic experience, we want to highlight some aspects of contemporary African culture, which is in effect comparable to global culture. Looking at Africa through the eyes of contemporary art, photography, architecture and design is perhaps the most appropriate way of approaching this vast, powerful continent, so creatively rich and diverse that today it is still one of western modernity’s greatest sources of inspiration”.

Read more about the products and textiles that came out of this event in the Yatzer article. It really is worth spending some time on.