DESIGN, MADE IN AFRICA

The Design Made in Africa exhibition is the result of an international call for projects launched by designers who devise items produced in Africa.
This selection corresponds more or less to the major geographical and cultural areas of the African continent. Its aim is to embody the creative trends which go through Africa.

Thirty-one designers were selected and forty-five different objects or collections of items from 14 different countries were chosen. The whole selection relates essentially to everyday life : pieces of furniture, light fittings, table arts, tapestries, but also street furniture, graphic design and body ornaments. All of them meet the requirements of uses belonging to normal contemporary (urban and rural) life in Africa. They are all original and have been designed to be reproducible.

Two identical versions of this touring exhibit have been prepared. Both are to travel simultaneously : one in the African continent and the other in the rest of the world, to be present at the main international design rendez-vous. This dual travelling process makes it possible for 26 towns overseas to host the exhibition until the end of 2006.

Valorising the design of new models, making the various economic actors (producers, manufacturers and distributors) aware of the necessity to develop the products as well as confirming or showing talents which turn Africa into a modern continent ¬ these are the states ambitions of this exhibition and event.

Céline Savoye & Michel Bouisson ¬ Exhibition Commissioners

 Designers : South Africa : Marisa Fick-Jordaan, Carlo Gibson et Ziemek Pater (Strangelove), Maira Koutsoudakis, Peet Pienaar ; Algeria : Amira Atallaoui-Deverchere, Mhedi Izemrane, Abdelaziz Bacha, Mohamed Faycal Guenni ; Burkina-Faso : Hamed Ouattara,Vincent Bailou et Vincent Rossin, Anthony Labouriaux, Cameroon : Jules Bertrand Wokam, Sandrine Dole ; Congo : Edo Diatsona, Jean-Claude Balonga, Frédéric Ruyant ; Ivory Coast : Issa Diabaté, Vincent Niamien ; Ethiopia : Fasil Giorghis ; Mali : Marianne Montaut, Cheick Diallo ; Uganda : Sanaa Gateja ; Rwanda : Laurent Hategekimana ; Senegal : Frédéric Hardouin, Babacar Niang, Dominique Petot, Balthazar Faye, Togo : Kossi Assou, Ameyovi Homawoo ; Tunisia : Mehdi Mahmoud Dellagi ; Zimbabwe : Ralph Gallagher.

Franck Houndégla, scenography Fabien Hahusseau, graphic design

 Production : Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne, Ville de Saint-Etienne et Saint-Etienne Métropole, France. Association Française d’Action Artistique (AFAA)

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