NEW READ: "AFRICA RISING"
From Egypt to Mozambique; Nigeria to Rwanda, the new book, Africa Rising: Fashion Design and Lifestyle from Africa, highlights the continent's emerging and energetic creatives.
Cover Page, Africa Rising. Courtesy Gestalten.
Africa's time is now. The continent is the site of a new cultural renaissance - one that spans into global contemporary art and design, architecture, and fashion. Africa Rising showcases the role of the dynamic continent in this renaissance and highlights the players who are leading the charge.
The creatives profiled include fashion designers Rich Mnisi (South Africa) and Selly Raby Kane (Senegal); product designers Quazi Design (Swaziland) and Yinka Ilori (Nigeria); art projects Love Radio (Rwanda) and Gallery 1957 (Ghana); and architects Toshiko Mori and Adjaye Associates, among many others. Their stories converge to form a glossy road map that proves this creative spawn to be a continent-wide, hybrid movement spurred by both newcomers and established talents.
It's vital to note the wave of African creativity is not a movement to take on a western identity. Rather, it is an un-diluted acknowledgement of self within a global context. Creative talents embrace a contemporary aesthetic that remains unabashedly rooted in heritage: Design group Hammer teases prints from Ivory Coast with Afrofuturism; Ardmore Ceramic Art's collaboration with Hermes produced a range of scarves with motifs of Africa's wildlife.
Co-edited by Gestalten and Design Indaba, the nearly-340-page compendium pops with vivid imagery and insightful commentary from experts and artisans. Africa Rising debunks colonialist representation of the continent as impoverished and lacking modernity. Africa is firmly planted in the 21st century, and, seemingly, the impactful leader of the creative future.
Order your copy from Gestalten here.
Africa Rising. Courtesy Gestalten.
Africa Rising. Courtesy Gestalten.
Africa Rising. Courtesy Gestalten.
Africa Rising. Courtesy Gestalten.