8 Highlights from Design Week Lagos 2023

Nothing prepares anyone for Lagos, Nigeria in October: The heat, and traffic, are overwhelming yet the city offers moments to find ease. Design Week Lagos is one such event, offering visual therapy to its many viewers. The four-day event (held October 19-22) featured strong works from designers across the country, and beyond. Curated by Charles O. Job under the theme “Africa Design, The future,” this year’s show unwrapped a new wave of discussions, including talks by 35 industry thought leaders across Africa. Tosin Oshinowo delivered a lecture on alternative urbanism, Malik Afegbua moderated a panel on the intersection of AI and design, and O. Job took the audience on an innovative ride. Meanwhile, installations and exhibitions on display celebrated forward-looking, and sustainable designs, fueling passionate conversations among those on site.

Explore Highlights From Design Week Lagos 2023

“Ulo Oma” by Myles Igwe

Designer Myles Igwe knows how to take risks, at times creating seemingly impossible forms from mundane materials. At Design Week Lagos, the designer exhibited Ulo Oma, a chair that translates his undying love for culture and exploring local circularity. “The women selling grains at the market rely on empty tins instead of measuring cups, and I found it truly inspiring to see the longstanding tradition of resourcefulness in our local culture, where materials are ingeniously repurposed in various ways,” Igwe said. The design concept is bold, made from the flattening of used food tins, Ulo Oma takes the description of what a raw project really looks like, envisioning the necessity of sustainability in the design world.

“Amahle” by Zonna

Zonna’s tufted furnishings and accents served as a showstopper with their contrasting white and brown colors, detailing a snake-like construction. The collection titled Amahle included a rug, chair, and mirror, all tufted in soft cotton yarns and handcrafted by the designer. The inspiration comes from the designer’s fascination with abstract shapes which further inspired her experimentations with tufting techniques. The designs are minimalistic and soothing to whatever space they find themselves in.

Lagos Light Series by Hot Wire Extensions

After a month-long residency by the Hot Wire Extensions at the 16/16 space at Victoria Island, Lagos—supported by Switzerland-based Pro Helvetia—it felt natural for Fabio Hendry, the founder of Hot Wire Extensions, to make a project with his resident fellows: Godwin Musa and Linus Sammy. The project became “Lagos Light Series,” two handbag-shaped bulb lamps made from the mixture of sand and plastic.

B1 Bench by Temitope El-shabazz

Temitope El-shabazz thinks of his designs as art. He doesn’t want to define the functionality; he’s giving collectors the power to do so. The B1 bench seems to reflect this conscious decision, especially with its multi-functional appearance that offers possibilities as a sitting bench, a console, or a plant stand. Carefully perfected in varied colors with a size measurement of 60×24 cm, El-shabazz says: “I wanted to spark a conversation I knew existed. I was interested in creating something different from what was already known as normal.” Mission accomplished.

Variant Present Flat Face Furniture by Deoye Bammeke

Witnessing the work of an architect-turned-project designer and illustrator seems to be one of the unexpected highlights of Design Week Lagos. The Flat Face Furniture series features a set of furniture pieces that are similar in design but have varied functionality. Here, Deoye Bammeke seeks inspiration from his long-time mentor’s obsession with Italian furniture designers. He wanted to create contemporary furniture with the no nails woodworking technique, so he spent two years severing wood dimension and creating furniture that could be dismembered at ease complete with unique patterns and geometrical carvings. “I didn’t want them to be basic, the colors were already black—just leaving them that way, black and flat, wouldn’t be interesting,” he said.

Limpetia Orb Light, Sailors Mirror by Franuel Eco Furniture Studio

In the west wing of the exhibit room, a lamp hanging from the pitch-black wood board grabs viewers’ attention. Called the Limpetia Orb Light and designed by Frances Oboro of the Franuel Eco Furniture studio, the designer utilizes the biomimicry concept, creating a web-like lamp. “I had come across a bulb wrapped in cobwebs and why it didn’t make sense at first, I felt it was very important to make a design from that inspiration,” she said. The 51cm lamp is made from tiny strings of jute fiber, woven into a cobweb-like orb. But that’s not the only thing in exhibit, a nautical Sailors Mirror wrapped in jute fibers also is on display.

Vivano x Color Sense x Literior Nigeria Installation

The scent of paint first welcomed viewers at the Vivano x Color Sense x Literior Nigeria installation at Design Week Lagos. Then came the striking room design, shaped openly like a triangular pyramid with aesthetic lightning. The installation featured an illusion wall in multi-colors (Color Sense), a room space decorated with artificial plants (Vivano), a room filled with Literior Nigeria’s latest light collections.

Teal Culture Installation

A curated boutique manifested itself in the form of an installation by Teal Culture Nigeria, which doubles as a showroom for Teal Harmony Designs, a Lagos-based interior design studio. At Design Week Lagos, the mother company exhibited works by standout West African product designers and artists, including the recreated headpiece of an ile ife queen, which was perfectly crafted by the Cameroonian artist Djakou Kassi Nathalie, as well as the line patterned art of Saheed Olokun. Also featured was a design booth by Ekoro Ekanem and Folakemi Oloye.

10 Questions With… Zizipho Poswa

Balance, determination, and drift coalesce in Zizipho Poswa’s sculptures on display at Galerie56 in Manhattan. Founded by SheltonMindel principal Lee F. Mindel, the gallery, which sits adjacent to the new “bean” sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Tribeca, showcases seven bronze sculptures by the South African artist, which are both bodily and abstract.

Titled “iiNtsika zeSizwe (Pillars of the Nation),” the exhibition’s approximately 5-foot tall sculptures pay homage to African women carrying utilitarian tools, goods, and domestic objects over their heads. Poswa honors women’s commonly overlooked roles in the daily economy and social life, particularly from her Xhosa heritage, while capturing their graceful balancing and intricate piling of the materials. The artist’s first solo U.S. exhibition, which the gallery presents in collaboration with Cape Town-based art and design gallery Southern Guild, honors women’s contributions to society and their ritualistic determination with elegant juxtapositions of seemingly abstract silhouettes. In closer inspection, Poswa’s conduction of elliptical forms paired with various blossoming and oozing silhouettes lends itself to bust-like figures.

Another first for the 43-year old artist is her material path: after working in clay and ceramics for two decades, currently from her 1,615-square foot Cape Town studio, Poswa exhibits a show with works exclusively made in bronze. “Bronze is a beautiful material—I love its relationship to clay and how it responds to different textures with its patina,” Poswa tells Interior Design. “Bronze also helps me enhance the stories about how powerful these women are because it is a material of permanence.” The show’s sculptures over pedestals are accompanied by a group of photographs that show the artist immersed with the communities of women celebrated across the show. Poswa’s journey in the U.S. also is expanding to the west coast—she recently started a residency at the Centre for Contemporary Ceramics at California State University in Long Beach.

Zizipho Poswa Takes Us Behind The Design of Her Sculptural Works

Interior Design: What do you think about the vernacular design aspects of your inspiration? A core element of vernacular design is need and you depict women who have created their own solutions for function.

Zizipho Poswa: This is something I’m drawn to without being intentional about it. I see something special, something that speaks to me, which I can translate into work. I name each piece after a woman, perhaps partially for this reason—each woman is unique and represents another form. The women all come from my community but at the same time, I also honor women from different parts of Africa. These may be women I never met but I find them from books or the internet. I can see their power and they deserve to be celebrated.

ID: There’s a portraiture element in each work—each sculpture is a bust. How do you integrate the monumental aspect of portraiture into your process?

ZP: Telling stories about where the source of inspiration comes from is important. Portraiture helps me connect concept with intention.

ID: You previously created works on the subject of hair and beautification. While your inspiration in this series is female labor, beauty is an important thread as well. You capture women carrying heavy materials but each juxtaposition is also about beauty and the strength.

ZP: I think that is where my love for bronze comes from, too. The fact that when you combine it with clay you get that element of accessory and jewelry. These inspirations come naturally when I look around in West Africa.

ID: How about balance? Each work conveys a sense of weight and heft with a determined balancing, just like your subjects. Could you talk about balancing a sense of precariousness and safety in sculpture?

ZP: Again bronze does this beautifully. It just has to be worked well in terms of the balance that I try to achieve over the pedestal. With clay, this may not be possible. During firing, it may collapse which of course recalls what these women have to deal with everyday with buckets and bundles.

ID: What do you think about stillness and mobility? Constant movement is a part of the labor you depict while sculpture is a still and monumental statement. Could you talk about capturing a kinetic power with works that embody a static impact?

ZP: I try to preserve the culture for the next generation and capture this moment, in a way similar to photography. That is why naming each piece after a woman in the community is important.

ID: How does your studio life inspire your work?

ZP: I have a large kiln which is around a meter high but we are able achieve work that reaches three meters high. I work with eight assistants and my business partner with whom I’ve been working for 20 years ago. With demand for larger work, we expanded the studio which now includes a residency area where we host artists.

Brooklyn Museum Launches Exhibit on African Fashion

10 Questions With… Siyanda Mazibuko

Siyanda Mazibuko views design through the lens of logic, which enables him to seek inspiration from people around the globe. As we speak, he begins to name role models from American-Israeli designer Neri Oxman to South African ceramicist Andile Dyalvane. For nearly a decade, the Johannesburg, South Africa-based designer has been making furniture pieces that wield unique connectivity with his IsiZulu background. His design ethos, which he calls the cultural and natural instinct, continues to shape his sculptural and functional Afrofuturistic designs in unexpected ways.

Interior Design spoke with the designer about his design journey, recent works, and latest collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC).

A Closer Look at Siyanda Mazibuko’s Afrofuturistic Designs 

Interior Design: Could you talk about your career path as a designer? 

Siyanda Mazibuko: My journey in the furniture industry started in 2015. I did a training course with a company based in three cities within Johannesburg. After that training, you can start your business. Back in 2015, I was extremely fond of doing a woodwork course without knowing what exactly I would be doing. Fast forward to 2017, I was among the class of 2016 Design Indaba Conference creatives, there were 40 of us in the whole country and I was recognized as one. In 2018, I joined the design talent scouted by design South Africa, it’s a program for artists and creatives to come together to share perspectives so we can put ourselves in better positions in the creative industry. In 2019, I was sort of like a graduate of the program in design South Africa hosted. I’ve done shows in Cape Town and in Italy for a focus Africa exhibition. Recently, I collaborated with the American hardwood export council to showcase the Isicholo bench. So that’s my journey in a nutshell.

ID: How does your background shape your designs? 

SM: My upbringing was the best of both worlds. I was born in Johannesburg but shortly after that, I was moved to an area called KwaZulu-Natal, it is a rural area, far less developed than Johannesburg. I started to have an eye for raw materials. Now I’m more drawn to raw designing using natural timber. Growing up, there was a lot of nature around me so my upbringing on the farm drew me to a natural approach to designing. I have two models to my design philosophy—the first is nature, the second is culture.

ID: Could you describe the cultural aspect of your design philosophy?

SM: I loved that you asked me about my background, it made me excited that I would be able to connect the dot. When we speak of philosophy, you have to ask yourself, “What is philosophy?” Is it a backbone of sorts? Is it a sequence of instilled beliefs? Or is it a way of living or something that you genuinely stand for? My answer is really all but importantly something I naturally genuinely stand for. As a designer, I’m very much moved by two models: nature and culture. A lot of influences come from the natural world. You look at the colors; we use a lot of earthy colors, we gather a lot with the whites and the blacks. There are lots of ideas that aid in a philosophical growth.

In a cultural sense, I look at the aesthetics, the finishing. Primarily, in my culture there is something called IsiZulu and a dance called indlamu. The dance is a way to connect to the very earth we walk on and deeply respect. If you look at my style of designing, you will see the lines that sort of come from the aesthetics and the look and the feel of any design I would put out there for people. The indlamu is a very fundamental way for me to express a design. My work is heavily influenced by cultural objects, sort of bringing their forms to design but in a reinvented way. If you look at the Isicholo bench, which was inspired by a hat worn by Zulu married women, you will witness the pattern and the influences there. So my style of design is primarily inspired by dance, which is energy in motion, trying to show movement through design.

ID: How would you describe your collaboration with AHEC?

SM: I will be honest, this is the most meaningful work I have ever created and I’m saying that because, for the first time, the design process felt more engaged with its inspiration. In other words, how the shape of the table looks exactly like Ukhamba. Ukhamba is a cultural object in IsiZulu which we use to carry Umqombothi, African beer. So the Ukhamba is a Zulu beer vessel and it’s been used for centuries. The reason why I aimed to connect the concept of using Ukhamba as an inspiration project for AHEC future heirloom was because it was a way of saying how we are able to pass down an object from generation to generation and Ukhamba itself suited the brief. I was more fond of its shape and I wanted to translate it into a functional furniture piece. Would it be a table? Would it be a chair? Frankly, everything found its way into the Ukhamba. In the end, I’m delighted to create a piece that meant so much, not just only for the shape or color or the hand-cut pattern on the surface. I’m happy that people are able to see the experience and patterns of Ukhamba from every angle. The Kumusuka experience with the AHEC was quite phenomenal and I’m really happy that the design grows on me each time I see it.

ID: What’s the success story behind your brand Kumsuka?

SM: In IsiZulu, Kumusuka means “from origin” it’s like the name itself is as theatrical as our design philosophy, it’s a matter of being able to grow into the name—how we are able to grow designs from a place of originality and not in a cliche way. We tend to throw the word original around often too loosely. I believe nothing is original but everything comes from somewhere so how do we give it a sense of origin? Initially, the brand name was pate, which means the mind. It was more about having fun with it and exploring different ideas so as a team as we grew. We were like: “How do we narrow ourselves down so there would be a sort of clarity and reference?” So we had to redefine ourselves and give everyone a sense of experience authentically.

ID: What do you think of South African design?

SM: There is so much design in South Africa. In its very nature, we South Africans have a competitive spirit but we also have a collaborative spirit, we know how to work with each other and I think South African design has grown tremendously in the past 5-10 years. It’s quite amazing seeing other works of art and being inspired by different designers and artists. But generally I think South African design is an upward sparrow in unimaginable ways. Just last week, I came from Cape Town and I got to have conversations with people I’ve never met. I visited different stores and I was having a different discussion than the one in Johannesburg, and it was so mind blowing because, at that moment, I realized I have so much to learn and so many people to meet out there. I think South Africa, in a nutshell, is just vast.

ID: What do you love most about design?

SM: I adore the process; it’s the most uplifting part from start to finish. It’s always about everything else in between. It’s like I cannot understand design if I don’t take it like a journey or how can I take something and really bring it to life without attaching myself to the process. I get a brief and I’m instantly excited. I’m always open to challenges, which is why I’m far more enthused by the brief itself and then from there, the excitement just rolls in.

ID: Your work is so unexpected, I feel like during your creative process, you always keep an open mind. 

SM: It’s really crazy that you say that because that’s exactly how it is. I’m always like, how do I create works that keeps the subject open? How do I create work that is not just provocative but also evocative? How do I say something as a designer? And it means something because design is also a means to pass messages.

ID: Do you subconsciously create sculptural Afrofuturistic pieces?

SM: I like the idea of having a piece that can stand the test of time but that’s not where my fixation is. I am more fixated on how I create a piece of furniture but get my angles so strong and well made. I think it’s something that happens subconsciously to me because I’m like: How do I as a designer create something that would mean something to my children and children’s children?

ID: I love that your work is also functional, is that intentional?

SM: It’s very intentional. It’s having a grasp of ethos and challenging it into a design but I can get too lost in the philosophy, in the inspiration. Absolutely, it is extremely intentional to say: How do you have a piece of furniture in your home or in your corporate space that would always say something or draw your eye to it?

Nifemi Marcus-Bello Celebrates Ancient African Practices in His First U.S Exhibition

On a hot February noon, California’s sun peels into the glass bars of Marta Los Angeles, unveiling an installation where culture meets design. A mother’s voice, thick with fluent Yoruba—spoken widely in Nigeria—echoes around the room, singing praises to her child. The “Friction Ridge” exhibition, which runs through March 4, 2023, by Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello is a combination of two installations—a set of bronze benches and a sound installation of Marcus-Bello’s mother. In the sound installation, his mother sings his personal Óríkì, poetry chanted in Yoruba that shines a light on the virtues and achievement of a child and references the power they possess.

10 Questions With… Lani Adeoye on the Multifaceted Nature of African Design 

Lani Adeoye can’t get enough of Lagos, Nigeria. After all, she spent the first 12 years of her life in the country before moving to Canada. “How is Lagos?” is the first question she asks when we get on a Zoom call for this story. With a hint of amusement in her voice, I sensed she was referring to the heat. “Lagos is fine,” I said and we burst into laughter because Lagos isn’t always fine— but we love the city regardless. Since establishing her career in design four years ago, Adeoye has become one of Africa’s standouts, shining a light on the continent’s cultures and traditions.

Adeoye’s biggest design ethos centers around creating contemporary furniture inspired by African heritage—a phrase, she notes, people within and beyond the continent still find difficult to grasp. There’s more to African design than Ankara fabrics and furnishings reminiscent of artifacts, a fact she vocalizes often.

Design has always been Adeoye’s instinctual language. She recalls leaving her job as a management consultant in Toronto to study at New York’s Parsons School of Design. Through exhibitions, she realized there was a high demand for her product and Studio-Lani, her design firm, was born. But Studio-Lani isn’t just a design firm, it reflects Adeoye’s approach to deconstructing the monolithic conceptions about African designs and serves as a space for exploration.

There is a rareness about Adeoye’s designs, which are structurally-defined, elegant, and possess extraordinary shapes that bask in the synergy of architecture, geometry, and Africa’s history. With such an incredible oeuvre, Adeoye has earned several accolades. Recently, she became the first African designer to win the Salone Satellite award for her ‘RemX’ piece at Milan Design Week 2022. 

Interior Design sat down with the designer to learn more about the evolution of her career and brand.

Interior Design: Can you tell me about your latest collection “Ekaabo”?

Lani Adeoye: The Ekaabo collection was something we recently launched in Milan, and it’s really a celebration of Nigerian heritage. It incorporates several things from different ethnic groups in Nigeria. I was very much inspired by the different cultural celebrations across the country, especially the bold materialities that exist in these different cultures and places. I’m also very much inspired by leather craftsmanship that happens up-north, even the Aso oke and Adire fabrics and also bronzes from Benin. The Ekaabo collection was a celebration of different things that have mattered to me over the years—materials I have always wished to conceptualize and play with. I do a lot of research and experimentation, [I] travel within the country to places with good artisanal appeal and talented craftsmanship, like Abeokuta, and just watch the way they use their skills to craft perfect materials. This collection was unique because it dealt with exploring different techniques, it was a very labor-intensive process and I was committed to it fully. 

ID: Tell me about your journey as a designer?

LA: When I first started designing furniture, I would go around telling people I’m designing contemporary furniture inspired by African heritage and people were always like: “What are you talking about?” People weren’t getting me, they would tell me to mix something with Ankara because involving Ankara would make it African and that to them was very understandable of my vision.

People have this monolithic idea of what they want to see from Africa. So for me, it is about broadening people’s perspectives and showing we can do many things that come from within. My work as a designer is very much inspired by several skills beyond the design world. When I make furniture, I don’t necessarily look for carpenter because the furniture I make is not made in a traditional furniture manner, so I reach out to people that are good with their hands, like shoemakers and hairdressers, because they mostly have a different approach to style and design that is extraordinary, technical and artistic.

I look at the industries that I feel have exceptional skill value, understand their mindset, work together and do something in furniture—so that has always been my approach. I find that it has helped and I really wanted to design something with a futuristic aura. Sometimes when people see you are doing something African inspired, they always expect you to create something that is already in the museum and for me, I want to be very explorative.

ID: The shapes in most of Ekaabo products are very refined, rare and unique, was this your intention to make it this way?

LA: Yeah, for me, shapes and forms speak volumes in my work. “Ekaabo” means “welcome” in Yoruba, so I wanted the forms to feel very open and soft. I even conceptualize the chair arms to be opened up, ready to receive the seater or the viewer. I just wanted it to have that overall warmth and roundness, also with the materials and choice of color. So it’s contemporary but it should also be full of warmth, especially that West African hospitality that makes you feel at home. 

ID: Who did you create this collection for, as in who is your target audience?

LA: I don’t think I design from that perspective, especially because most of my collections are driven from an artistic sort of approach. So those who connect with my designs, just connect with them. 

ID: For the creation of this collection, who did you work with and did you employ artisanal skills?

LA: I worked with hairdressers, shoemakers, weavers—it was a combination of people from different skill industries coming together to create something spectacular. 

ID: Tell me the story behind your brand Studio-Lani?

LA: Studio-Lani is part of my beliefs in sharing our heritage, looking back at traditional ways of doing things or older techniques. It’s one of the places that resuscitate dying art and craft where you kind of look at a lot of things that have been done before and ask questions of how to give the old a contemporary feel. It’s inspired also by my curious nature and my interest in researching and digging deep into things and exploring them, so that was the first core. I started doing exhibitions to showcase works and it grew into business. The market responded to our perspectives and we pulled a lot of effort into doing things differently and doing things we feel connected with. I feel that people are always excited to see new things. When I started doing this, I didn’t know about any design shows in Lagos, there wasn’t a lot of interest so I kind of continued doing my job for a while. But thankfully, I think things are changing— there is social media and I think young folks coming up are witnessing these changes too. 

ID: What has owning a design business in Nigeria’s biggest city taught you over the years?

LA: I mean it’s the same story across the creative industry. I would say infrastructure; you wake up one day and there are electricity issues. There are a lot of challenges and I think a lot of times for a lot of us designers operating in international space, it makes it challenging when you have constraints. 

ID: What do you think about the design industry in Nigeria, is it growing?

LA: I think it’s really growing. When we started out, we had to work extra hard to find an audience and even build the industry to a reputable place. Now, there has been a massive support from both local and international spaces and there is availability of materials. Not like they don’t get to work hard as much, don’t get me wrong but I just think a lot of things have changed between now and then. I believe that designers are making more incredible designs and structures that would hopefully serve better purposes to the ecosystem.  

ID: What other projects are you hoping to work on in the near future?

LA: There are always a lot of things I’m interested in working on, I feel like I’m the kind of person that gets bored easily. There are so many things on my mind, whether it’s testing out different materials or different production techniques. It’s always one or the other that I’m interested in exploring but it may not always come out right away. I really love things to sit in my head. So I’m not necessarily in a rush to put things out. I have been working with a lot of different designers, so if there’s one thing now, it’s collaborations and exciting conversations that I’m anticipating.

15 Highlights from the Africa Edition of Révélations 2022

A temporary exhibition hall in the center of a Parisian park will host a postponed international craft show this summer. Taking place at the Grand Palais Éphémère in the Champ de Mars, Révélations 2022 will run June 9-12 in Paris with a special focus on the continent of Africa and its bronzesmiths, ceramicists, sculptors, carvers, textile designers, and cabinetmakers. Some 300 exhibitors will be featured at the fifth edition of the event, which launched in 2013 and was canceled last year. From a large scale necklace taking cues from the African Renaissance movement to a ceramic sculpture exploring a tribe’s ancestral tradition of woven and braided hair to a contemporary take on the ancient art of featherwork, here are 15 of our favorite examples of fine craft you’ll see at this year’s show. 

1. AD Paris

Art or jewelry? Adele Dejak channels both genres—along with the African Renaissance Movement—for large scale necklace AD Paris.

2. Umthwalo VII

Zizipho Poswa, a Xhosa woman, draws from her tribe’s ancestral tradition of woven and braided hair to conceive ceramic sculptures such as Umthwalo VII, shown here. Bestowed a traditional Xhosa name, each sculpture is a tribute to a woman in the tribe who influenced the artist’s life.

3. Table by Atelier Stefan Leo

To achieve the ivory-like patina of the base of this table, Stefan Leo soaped ceramic. The top is cast-glass crafted using the pâte de verre technique, which calls for mixing crushed glass with a binding material.

4. Vase by Vassos Demetriou

Vassos Demetriou’s exploratory journey with ceramic forms and slips native to Cyprus—where he has his ceramic studio—gave rise to the unpredictable curve and glaze of this ceramic vase.

5. Mimesis

Sicilian buffalo raised exclusively for the production of mozzarella provides the distinctive leather accents of Mimesis, a collection of Finnish pine wood furnishings by Jordi Ribaudi.

6. Clover

Textile transforms into the avant-garde when traditional knitting is paired with innovative yarn. Clover, a large mesh coat by Cécile Feilchenfeldt, playfully parts and flairs in the back.

7. Inborn Ott

Sungyoul Park took a deep dive into the Korean ottchil lacquer technique—his university major—to create the woven effect seen in his natural lacquer and pigment Inborn Ott bowl.

8. Empreinte IV

By “transforming paper into volume,” Ferri Garces constructs sculptures meant to be multiplied and joined. Soothing repetition is the result—as seen here in Empreinte IV.

9. Complice II

The ancient art of featherwork reaches a contemporary audience with Complice II, a Macassar ebony, sycamore, brass, gold leaf, and feathers cabinet designed with a nod to the 1930s by Maison Vermeulen in collaboration with carpenter Hervé Delumeau.

10. Orsetto 02

Flourishing an unexpected bounty of rounded legs, the Orsetto 02 coffee table by Martin Massé for The Ateliers Saint Jacques is carved from travertine navona, a delicately veined natural stone. Each limited-edition piece is signed and numbered.

11. La Mer(e), Origine du Monde

Ghizlane Sahli combines recycled plastic and silk thread for her organically-shaped sculptures. The silk thread on plastic and metal La Mer(e), Origine du Monde is part of a series that also includes bas reliefs and drawings.

12. Heroine Bookends

Abstract faces are a reoccuring theme in the work of Alimi Adewale, who uses them to address the unstable economic and political climate of his native Nigeria, where people, lacking welfare and security, “are faceless and voiceless.” He applied a glossy paint to his carved wood Heroine bookends.

13. Wall Sculpture Piece #1

Using rye grass, design studio Paelis preserves and innovates historical straw and stone marquetry techniques. Wall sculpture Piece #1 is included in the SiO Collection.

14. Flamingo

Perched on one leg, the hand-stitched, vegetable-tanned cowhide Flamingo by Sébastien Lepeu demonstrates the leather craftsmanship of Parisian luxury leather workshop Gustave Maurice.

15. Angry Boy

The mixed-media Angry Boy by Viktor Frešo is part of a series of sculptures, which run large and small, depicting a man with various expressions of anger.

Honoring Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, the Interior Design team is spotlighting the narratives, works, and craft traditions of Black architects, designers, and creatives. See our full coverage here, including interviews with industry innovators.

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Artist Helina Metaferia Celebrates Black Women Activists in Two Solo Shows

Ethiopian-American artist Helina Metaferia is set to showcase mixed media collages at an upcoming exhibition in Brookline, Massachusetts. Read more

Black Artists and Designers Guild Teams Up With Pottery Barn on New Line of Home Accents

The Black Artists and Designers Guild and Pottery Barn team up to create a collection of homeware, accents, and textiles showcasing the beauty of Black joy. Read more

10 Questions With… Nina Cooke John

Architect and educator Nina Cooke John speaks candidly about juggling responsibilities, realizing her first built public artwork, and the importance of active participation in civic life. Read more

Black Makers Showcase Their Personal Narratives in These Eye-Catching Product Designs

From bold wallcoverings to meditative rugs, these products reflect the heritages, travels, and childhood memories of their makers. Read more

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Invites Viewers to Reflect on Community and Hope in Afrofuturist Period Room

The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts the “Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room.” The long-term installation artfully blends a fabricated 19th-century domestic interior with new acquisitions from contemporary artists and designers such as Ini Archibong and Tourmaline. Read more

10 Questions With… Titi Ogufere, Founder of Design Week Lagos

Titi Ogufere offers insights into the beginnings of Design Week Lagos, African design traditions, and her recent project with Netflix. Read more

10 Questions With… Rich Mnisi

Rich Mnisi chats about his pivot from fashion to furniture design, as well as his debut solo exhibition. Read more

10 Questions with… David Brown

David Brown discusses church acoustics, the difference between the available and the vacant in urban design, and the possibilities of the temporary. Read more  

Malene Barnett Teams Up With Lulu and Georgia on Wallcovering Line Inspired by the Sea

A closer look at artist-activist Malene Barnett’s Kindred line for Lulu and Georgia, which translates her intricate hand-built clay sculptures and vessels into standout wallpaper. Read more

Venus Williams’s Firm V Starr Honors Women in Debut Product Collaboration With Wolf-Gordon

In case you missed it, Venus Williams’s firm V Starr launched its first-ever product collaboration last year: Muse, an upholstery line with Wolf-Gordon that celebrates the power of women. Read more