Making Africa

, Continent of contemporary design

The eyewear designs by the Kenyan Cyrus Kabiru are made from objects he finds in the street, from sponges to screws. His C-stunners show is that our view of the world – including Africa – is blinkered. There are furniture designs, such as the colourful, two-legged Sansa armchairs by Cheick Diallo from Mali, made of knotted nylon fishing line. The exhibition also presents architecture by Francis Kéré, David Adjaye and Kunlé Adeyemi,as well as remarkable cardboard city models by Bodys Isek Kingelez; animation art by the South African Robin Rhode; and urban fashion photography of young people in search of their identity by the Mozambican Mário Macilau.

There are at present some 650 million mobile phones in booming Africa – more than in the USA or Europe. Most of these devices have internet access, a gateway to the world that is of fundamental importance for the present-day transformation of Africa and a great influence on the work of artists and designers. ‘Making Africa’ shows how design is related to the economic and political changes of the African continent and even contributes to these changes. Besides contemporary design, there are also examples of magazines and photographs from the 1960s. The comparison shows how the young generation often deliberately refers to work from these early years of African independence and recovers the positive, self-assured feeling of the time.

Exhibition catalogue

The comprehensive and richly illustrated catalogue ‘Making Africa – A Continent of Contemporary Design’ is published by the Vitra Design Museum and is on sale in the Kunsthal shop for € 69,90 (ISBN 978-3-931936-52-5).

MAKING AFRICA FESTIVAL

On Sunday 2 October there are various performances, workshops, guided tours, music, food and dance, including storytelling by the dramatist Ogutu Muraya, a fashion show by Lady Africa, and teasers for the Afrovibes Festival all day long.