Title
Making Africa – A Continent of Contemporary Design
Posted In
Industrial / Product Design, Sculpture, Fashion design, Exhibition
Duration
14 March 2015 to 13 September 2015
Venue
Vitra Design Museum
Opening Hours
Daily 10 am – 6 pm. The museum is open on Sundays and on all public holidays.
Telephone
+49.7621.702.3200
Email
[email protected]
Official Website
Vitra Design Museum
Detailed Information
TitleMaking Africa – A Continent of Contemporary DesignPosted InIndustrial / Product Design, Sculpture, Fashion design, ExhibitionDuration14 March 2015 to 13 September 2015
VenueVitra Design MuseumOpening HoursDaily 10 am – 6 pm. The museum is open on Sundays and on all public holidays.Telephone+49.7621.702.3200
Email[email protected]Official WebsiteVitra Design Museum

Currently on display at the Vitra Design Museum, ‘Making Africa – A Continent of Contemporary Design’ is an exhibition dedicated to a younger generation of artists and designers leading a fast-paced creative boom in many countries across the continent. Developed over a two-year research period with the contribution of some 70 creative professionals, the exhibition focuses on a community of digitally-connected entrepreneurs and creatives who despite the fact that they create and work locally, address a much wider, global audience. From experimental eyewear sculptures to furniture, and photography to animation art, ‘Making Africa’ showcases the work of over 120 artists and designers from Kenya, Mozambique, Mali, South Africa, Nigeria and more. As the curators of the exhibition point out, art, fashion, architecture and design have proved to be elements that are accompanying, reflecting and even fuelling the economic and political changes observed all across the continent today, and more specifically the rapid expansion of the middle class in many African countries.
 

Malick Sidibé, »Nuit de Noël (Happy Club)«, 1963, photograph, © Malick Sidibe, Courtesy CAAC, Courtesy Magnin-A Gallery, Paris. 

Malick Sidibé, »Nuit de Noël (Happy Club)«, 1963, photograph, © Malick Sidibe, Courtesy CAAC, Courtesy Magnin-A Gallery, Paris. 

The exhibition makes the point that design in Africa follows a paradigm that is fundamentally different from that of western and westernised societies, an approach that evidently leads to innovation and a rethinking of design aesthetics and material culture in general. It also looks back at the postcolonial era: a brief period of optimism and hope for African peoples after they gained their independence from European colonialists (mainly during the 1960’s-70’s) that soon dissipated into the violent conflicts and civil wars of the following decades. In the exhibition’s well-designed sculptural set that partially looks like a stylish boutique, historical documents from Africa’s postcolonial period enter into a dialogue with contemporary exhibits — to demonstrate how a young generation of a diverse and widely misrepresented continent is not only well aware of its past, but also knows how to transform it into new and exciting work that can have an impact on a global scale.

{YatzerTip} After the Vitra Design Museum, the exhibition will travel to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain (October 2015 - February 2016).

Buki Akib, Fela menswear collection, 2011, Jacke/jacket, © Buki Akib, Foto/photo: Anne Vino- gradoff. 

Buki Akib, Fela menswear collection, 2011, Jacke/jacket, © Buki Akib, Foto/photo: Anne Vino- gradoff. 

Studio Riot, »My Africa Is«, 2012, limited poster edition, © R!OT, Johannesburg.

Studio Riot, »My Africa Is«, 2012, limited poster edition, © R!OT, Johannesburg.

Cyrus Kabiru, »Caribbean Sun«, 2012, image from the »C-Stunners« photography series, © Carl de Souza AFP/Getty Images. 

Cyrus Kabiru, »Caribbean Sun«, 2012, image from the »C-Stunners« photography series, © Carl de Souza AFP/Getty Images. 

Justin Plunkett, Skhayascraper, Rendering, Limited Edition of 20, 2013, © Justin Plunkett, Courtesy The Cabinet, Kapstadt/ Cape Town. 

Justin Plunkett, Skhayascraper, Rendering, Limited Edition of 20, 2013, © Justin Plunkett, Courtesy The Cabinet, Kapstadt/ Cape Town. 

Jenna Bass, Hannes Bernard, »Jungle Jim - African Pulp Fiction«, No 11, 2013, Magazin/magazine, © Hannes Bernard and Jenna Bass. 

Jenna Bass, Hannes Bernard, »Jungle Jim - African Pulp Fiction«, No 11, 2013, Magazin/magazine, © Hannes Bernard and Jenna Bass. 

Ikire Jones, »The Madonna«, from »The untold Renaissance« series, 2014, pocket square,© Walé Oyéjidé. 

Ikire Jones, »The Madonna«, from »The untold Renaissance« series, 2014, pocket square,
© Walé Oyéjidé. 

Amunga Eshuchi and Cyrus Kabiru, »Big Cat«, 2012, image from the »C-Stunners« photography series, edition of 10, © Courtesy Ed Cross Fine Art Ltd, London, photo: Amunga Eshuchi. 

Amunga Eshuchi and Cyrus Kabiru, »Big Cat«, 2012, image from the »C-Stunners« photography series, edition of 10, © Courtesy Ed Cross Fine Art Ltd, London, photo: Amunga Eshuchi. 

Andile Dyalvane Portrait, 2011, © Imiso Ceramics, Courtesy Southern Guild and Imiso. 

Andile Dyalvane Portrait, 2011, © Imiso Ceramics, Courtesy Southern Guild and Imiso. 

Vigilism, »Where there's gold: mining way station«, 2014, three dimensional model, © Olalekan Jeyifous, Vigilism, New York.

Vigilism, »Where there's gold: mining way station«, 2014, three dimensional model, © Olalekan Jeyifous, Vigilism, New York.

Gonçalo Mabunda, »www.crise.com«, 2012, Thron/throne, Collection Vitra Design Museum, Foto/photo: © Vitra Design Museum, Jürgen Hans.

Gonçalo Mabunda, »www.crise.com«, 2012, Thron/throne, Collection Vitra Design Museum, Foto/photo: © Vitra Design Museum, Jürgen Hans.

Guy du Toit, »Improvised Seating«, 2014, seating elements, courtesy of Southern Guild, © Guy du Toit, photo: Greg Cox. 

Guy du Toit, »Improvised Seating«, 2014, seating elements, courtesy of Southern Guild, © Guy du Toit, photo: Greg Cox. 

Chris Saunders, Lethabo Tsatsinyane fotografiert für/photographed for Dazed Magazine aus der/from the »Smarteez« Serie/series, 2010 © photo: Chris Saunders, courtesy PAPA Photographic Archival and Preservation Association, Kapstadt/Cape Town. 

Chris Saunders, Lethabo Tsatsinyane fotografiert für/photographed for Dazed Magazine aus der/from the »Smarteez« Serie/series, 2010 © photo: Chris Saunders, courtesy PAPA Photographic Archival and Preservation Association, Kapstadt/Cape Town. 

J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, »Onile Gogoro Or Akaba«, Fotografie/photograph, 1975, © Ojeikere Estate Courtesy CAAC Courtesy Magnin-A Gallery, Paris. 

J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, »Onile Gogoro Or Akaba«, Fotografie/photograph, 1975, © Ojeikere Estate Courtesy CAAC Courtesy Magnin-A Gallery, Paris. 

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, Installation view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, exterior view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa, exterior view, © Vitra Design Museum.

Making Africa: Meet the Continent's New Generation of Artists and Designers

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