afrominima

My question is “How can I use my Yoruba culture cues to create a new design narrative” this has been my guide towards my intervention. As a designer from West Africa I realized we do not have a distinct design language similar to the bauhaus movement, the art deco movement etc. I decided to create my own unique style and I decided to combine my Yoruba culture with a distinct take on minimalism – The word “Afrocentric” an adjective which simply means “regarding African or Black culture as pre-eminent. Yoruba is the most common culture in Africa and I have spoken a bit about this is my previous posts. I have also taken some inspiration from other culture such as “Japanese culture” and “Scandinavian culture” in regards to design and minimalism.

Combining Afrocentric and Minimalism I coined “AFROMINIMA” a design language, a philosophy, a style and a movement that connects our past, present and future. Over the years culture has played a vital role in Art and Design. The African identity has evolved and we are contributing to an existing artistic movement that is connecting the continent’s history with its dynamic potential.

AFROMINIMA is a global design language that can be expressed in different mediums from Art, Fashion, Interior Design, Product design, Furniture design, illustration, food, photography. Distinctively uncomplicated yet conceptually complex. A modern language that expresses our Neo African narrative and my Yoruba culture.

From my childhood I have always wondered how things were created and I have alway been fascinated about the creative process, where do ideas come from? My guess is Imagination, Intuition, Intelligence, Common Sense and Hardship. Through hardship our brains works in a different way, it goes to survival mode and this is where creativity starts to harness itself. Some of the greatest artists and designers created through hard times (a broken heart, a low income upbringing, political disturbances in the society etc)

I also ponder on how something is created from nothing, but I believe that our imagination shapes our reality and thats why I love this MA, its all about applying your imagination and bringing it to the real world, the center stage of reality to solve our numerous societal, cultural and environmental issues. “intangible” simple means “unable to be touched, not having physical presence so this means that ideas, thoughts, imagination, intuition etc are all intangible can it be that there is a realm that is not seen that provides the mind/brain with ideas unique to our situations.

As a designer I like to connect the dots to understand my creative process and challenge it further, I believe that the human mind has to capacity to create the universe but over the years it has been limited and misused, ok enough of that, I want to share with you some images of my “design language” and how I have used the intangible to create the tangible.

I was recently selected as a designer to be featured in a Netflix series called “MADE BY DESIGN” with focus on African designers in Africa and the diaspora. I was able to talk about my design journey and design ethos. As I continue to evolve I realize that this is my purpose in life and I have been fortunate to reach this level in my life.

For my stakeholder project, I met with a fellow creative and Chef Michael Elegbede and we are working on a collaborative project called The ITAN collection following the design ethos I am designing a collection which is developed following the Chef’s design brief. This is a good way to create the tangible from the intangible, bring life into the design language.

A jewelry design collection following the ethos of AFROMINIMA.

“Applied Imagination meets Artificial Intelligence”

Hello! I have been digging more deeply into the Yoruba culture and its aesthetic significance in the Arts. I have found some really profound information and practical knowledge on how this ethos is applied in different mediums from fashion, music, food, architecture, art and literature.

From our past, our present and our future the Yoruba aesthetic is a combination of identity, material, symmetry, balance, rhythm, harmony between forms, technical finishing and functionality, all this combined with a sense of beauty, spirituality and knowledge of oneself.

Aesthetic refers to the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of beauty and artistic taste historically determined essence of human values, their creation, perception, appreciation and assimilation.

The Yoruba Aesthetic also focuses on anonymity and social influence – the Yoruba have philosophies concerning the appreciation of beauty.

Fun Fun ni iyi eyin – “The beauty of the teeth lies in its whiteness”

Ko gún régé ni iyi orun – “Straightness is the beauty of a good neck”

The Yoruba Aesthetic has a deep linguistic, cultural and metaphysical context – the aesthetic sensibility is drawn from experience and interaction with the elders, the custodian of knowledge and experience.

As mentioned I had planned a live discussion on IG and chat with a friend who’s and Architect and a stakeholder on this Intervention of creating a new design narrative from the Yoruba culture but we had to move it to the 13th of April and will provide and update on this once the discussion is completed.

I continue to do my research and gain more knowledge on my approach for my project.

As I continue to ponder and reflect on this new design narrative of the yoruba aesthetic I have decided to take it a step further and boldly go where i haven’t gone before. To achieve this I am doing a LIVE instagram chat with a friend and Architect Seun Oduwole who’s project The John Randle Center for Yoruba Culture and History has gained him international recognition and has recently been featured in Architectural Digest and netflix, in this live discussion we will be talking about the yoruba culture and its influence in the Arts in the past decade, we will discuss the past, present and future of the Yoruba Aesthetic and in return it will trigger conversations and an attraction to stake holders and the general audience that desire to know about this new narrative.

I am learning to own my identity and be a part of the change I want to see in this ever changing and challenging world.

Here are some new images that has inspired me recently. Forgive me I’m dyslexic so images speak to me strongly.

The Yoruba aesthetic is a combination of color, form, culture cues, functionality and minimalism. Over the years as a designer I’ve come to understand the ethos of the Yoruba traditional arts and crafts and its built on a foundation of beliefs, locality and the human being’s determination to evolve and thrive in any living condition. I am presently doing more research on “the YORUBA aesthetic” which will possibly guide me in creating my interventions, my question now is “How can I use my Yoruba culture cues to create a new design narrative” I think its perfect and it has slowly revealed itself and I’m quite happy with my direction and I believe it will create the interventions I seek to accomplish.

Heres some research I have been doing.

This wooden sculpture created by an unknown Yoruba artist from Nigeria in West Africa, depicts a kneeling material figure with a nursing child in her arms, while carrying another child on her back.

The Yoruba believe that if an artist has a beautiful mind, the beauty will translate into the execution of their art. Therefore to create “well done” work, one must have a honorable personal “íwà” which requires a specific worldview recognizing and respecting the uniqueness in everyone and everything. Only then can an artist tap into his creative “íwà” which is employed to create “well made” work according to art critics (Abiodun 22) – Kelsey Barnes ’16, Anthropology and Art History.

“The enlightened ones” is an imaginative and conceptual understanding that few people have been selected and knowledge is passed from their generation to the next through a genetical channel. I believe the Yoruba aesthetic follows this ideology.

“We are here, We’ve been here, We’ll always be here” – A phrase coined from this school of thought.

“The modernity ball” represents “wisdom, knowledge and understanding” that transcends through time and space – A collective of intellectual achievements from our past, present and future – A powerful yet gentle energy that slowly descends and hovers holistically over the chosen one.

A: A NEW DESIGN LANGUAGE, A DESIGN MOVEMENT.

Over the years and all over the world different art and design movements have been created by either an individual or a group of enthusiasts who come together to disrupt the global art and design scene from Bauhaus, Art Deco, Rococo, Modernist, Minimalism, Futurism to Cubism all these creative ideologies were born out of different cultural and social beliefs. As a designer and creator from Africa who’s is seeking change and breaking free from the norms of society, I decided to create a design language that can operate on a global platform of design, my approach is a combination of afrocentric culture, minimalism and modernism in particular focusing on my African identity as a Yoruba. The word afrocentric which regards African or black culture as pre-eminent, the afrocentric perspective is a culturally grounded social work practice-based model that affirms, codifies and integrates common cultural experiences, values and interpretations that cut across people of African descent. The term Afrocentric, Afrocentrism or Afrocentricity was coined in the 1980s by the African American scholar and activist Molefi Asante, combining this intellectual and philosophical frame of work with design and minimalism (in everyday culture (The Yoruba tribe)

Design is a missing gap between the future I look forward to, design is evolution and evolution is what shapes our world, creativity is the fundamentality of the human species, the beauty of nature and the power that drives the circle of life, using a common sense and basic approach to design with a combination of acquired skills in technical design, intuitive knowledge and research I aim to create a modern language in design that can be used in different mediums from art, food, music, fashion, literature, furniture, graphic and creativity in general, most importantly following the ethos and principles of good design from design icons such as Dieter Rams. Afrocentric Minimalism is the future of my culture, combining the past, present and the future, a forward thinking perspective is truly needed in these unprecedented times, we need new forms of expression that focuses on true social values, economic growth and sustainability, these are the ethos and philosophy of a new design language, I will like to end with a saying from a traditional ruler from the Yoruba tribe “We should not forget our past, at the same time we have to evolve any aspect of our culture that is not progressive should be removed and others fine tuned to meet the needs of civilisation”

Below are images of different ways this language has been expressed.

Everyday Objects, Everyday Rituals, Everyday life.

From a very young age I have always been fascinated about everyday objects that we interact with on a daily basis, their use and how these objects were created, how they enhance our daily lives like a toothbrush, this is an object that is used every single day (how did this object come to be, who was the first person to design this object are the questions I ask myself) Design is a fundamental part of our lives and I believe it is quite underrated but I guess thats the beauty of design, its not in your face, good design blends in quite well with daily life and the flow of existence. In my journey as a designer, my curiosity and thirst for knowledge made me to realise one very important aspect of design which is “culture” I will not talk much about the details as I have discussed this in my previous post but I came to understand that I needed to connect with my cultural identity to stand out as a designer/creative/artist. As an African I also realize the struggles and challenges we face, design is the tool I use to fight the good fight. Design and Culture became my purpose and I particularly focused on African culture and one of the good things about the Applied Imagination program is that it has guided me and lead me to focus on my very own culture as Africa is such a vast continent with over 3000 tribes and 2000 languages, I also realised through research that the Yoruba culture is one of the most popular cultures in the world, the Yoruba people are among the most urbanized people in Africa, an ethnic group that inhabits Western Africa, they constitute about 44 million people in total. This culture is rich in tradition and knowledge. In this case the Yoruba people are well known for their Arts and Crafts, Folklore, Mythology and Religion. I decided to create a unique modernist design language following the basic principles of the Yoruba culture from language, fashion to food, one thing that struck me in this culture is the Minimalist approach but dynamic way of life, combining minimalism, design skills, intuition and research. My next post talks a bit more of my intervention.