It’s that point of the yr once more when Lagos begins its burning cycle, stuffed with the warmth of arts and cultural occasions. Design Week Lagos 2022 (20-23 October) – fostering the expansion of the design business and uniting hundreds of creatives throughout a number of cities within the continent – kicked off a season that additionally contains Lagos Vogue Week (26-29 October), Africa Worldwide movie competition (AFRIFF – till 6 November), and Artwork X Lagos (4-6 November).
This yr marks the third version of Design Week Lagos, a good that was established in 2019 by Titi Ogufere and promotes creativity and innovation inside and past West Africa. The 2022 occasion was curated by Ogufere with the theme ‘Past The Field’, which explored the necessity for architects and designers to be extra experimental and artistic of their thought processes and of their inventories. The occasion spanned a bunch of actions, from panel talks to exhibitions to the e-book launch of Nigerian artist-designer Pa Demas Nwoko, and featured a number of considerate, educative and enjoyable moments.
Design Week Lagos 2022: the highlights
‘Theoracle’ by Ini Archibong
(Picture credit score: OJ Mayana)
Image this: the primary block within the design week exhibition room, a video set up capturing a 65in TV sits on a white wall. Within the video, a motion artist carrying a yellow fluid costume strikes her physique in rhythmic motions, opening the ‘Theoracle’ set up of Switzerland-based designer Ini Archibong. The set up includes mild, water, sound, crystal and glass and captures the essence of spirituality. The physique rhythm of the motion artist accentuates the irregular synchronisation of untraceable language – that which displays itself in a godly symphony. Contextually, Archibong considered the ‘Theoracle’ mild as a method of crafting an eccentric African fantasy and providing again to his ancestry as a diasporan little one.
‘Ilé Ilà’ by Tosin Oshinowo
(Picture credit score: OJ Mayana)
What’s Design Week Lagos with out a conventional chair by Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo? Oshinowo has at all times had that penchant for creating chairs with a cultural instinct, thick cloth texture and mute colors. Oshinowo exhibited one of many chairs in her ’Ilé Ilà’ assortment: a Yoruba-inclining woodwork, manufactured from shiny-grey stripe cloth that conveys a minimalistic appeal – one thing that may make its manner into a historically crafted house or any fashionable combine.
Pa Demas Nwoko e-book launch
The final day of Design Week Lagos 2022 started with the launch of Concrete considering, a e-book by distinguished Nigerian architect and artist Pa Demas Nwoko. The occasion introduced collectively a number of artwork and design protégés, together with Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye and a bunch of Nwoko’s friends from the College of Ibadan. Launched by Ogufere, the occasion included a Q&A session between the architect and the viewers.
Design Week Lagos 2022: Younger designer exhibit room
One among Design Week Lagos’ main targets has been to highlight the creativity and the oeuvre of the following technology of architects and designers. This yr, an entire exhibition room was devoted to showcasing the works of younger designers.
Handmade raffia ottoman and handmade raffia lamp by Bubu Ogisi
(Picture credit score: OJ Mayana)
The primary work encountered within the younger designer’s room was that of Bubu Ogisi, foremost Nigerian dressmaker and artist. For this design undertaking, Ogisi seemed to sustainability. She needed to discover the existentialism of the forest and its everlasting relevance to mankind, interweaving African spirituality in the identical method. ‘We persistently take from the forest and infrequently give again; on this manner this room pays homage to the forest and divine inspiration: leaf department and tree,’ she says. For this assortment, Ogisi made two items of forest-inspired homeware: the handmade raffia ottoman and the handmade raffia lamp, utilizing each as a cultural pressure between the Black altar of Nigeria and Kongo.
‘Anwuli chair’ by Myles Igwe
(Picture credit score: Myles Igwebuike)
‘Anwuli chair’ got here with a feisty look, extra fashionable, additional performance and with a reasonable gaude— all of which designer Myles Igwe had considered, that’s why he mentioned ‘simplicity is the simplest solution to attain practicality and utility, therefore the simply perceivable design however subtle regardless. The chair manifests the impression of straightforward however intentional design.’
‘Jesmonite Arch’ lamp by Tejumola Butler Adenuga
(Picture credit score: OJ Mayana)
Nigerian designer Tejumola Butler Adenuga was impressed by nature and the man-made. The designer made a lampstand that nods to weathered rock however is in reality forged from packaging supplies.
Lounge chair by Sandra Ahamefuna (Zonna)
(Picture credit score: OJ Mayana)
Walnut wooden, leather-based and rattan come collectively on this lounge chair. Made by Zonna (Sandra Ahamefuna) of the model Zo, the chair is directly minimalistic and aesthetically sensational.
‘Bulkan, By way of and Hat’ by Charles O Job
(Picture credit score: Charles Job)
Charles O Job offered a trio of merchandise with a very photogenic aesthetic: ‘Bulkan’, a pink and white cross-shaped bookshelf; ‘By way of’, an umbrella stand; and ‘Hat’, a coat hanger that could possibly be wall-mounted.
designweeklagos.com (opens in new tab)
Supply: Wallpaper
