m’afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09(above) ‘meridienne sofa’ by dominique petot

 

 

 

stephen burks was commisioned by patrizia moroso to design and curate the m’afrique exhibition, held at the moroso showroom during milan design week. for his research he travelled to the african city of dakar to understand the production process of furniture making, work with local artisans and buy the sengalese and mali fabrics, which covers all the pieces of the installation. m’ afrique celebrates the african continent through works by designers, artists and craftspeople.

 

‘looking at africa through the eyes of contemporary art, photography, architecture and design is perhaps the most appropriate way of approaching this vast, powerful continent, so creatively rich and diverse that today it is still one of western modernity’s greatest sources of inspiration.’ – stephen burks

 

 

 

m'afrique moroso designboom‘cardamone sofa’ by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘ibiscus’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi sec

m'afrique moroso designboom‘touti’ stool by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘reii stool’ stool by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘madame dakar’ sofa by ayse birsel & bibi seck

 

m'afrique moroso designboom‘sunny bench’ by tord boontje

m'afrique moroso designboom‘sunny’ chair by patricia urquiola

m'afrique moroso designboom‘shadowy’ chaise lounge by toord boontje

m'afrique moroso designboom‘shadowy’ armchair by tord boontje

m'afrique moroso designboom‘iris’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘toogou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘nopolou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi speck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘bayekou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘gaal’ bench by ayse birsel & bibi seck

m'afrique moroso designboom‘car-rapide’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

 

 impressions from m’afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 2009:

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09entrance to the m’afrique exhibition image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘eating stars’ by fathi hassan image © fathi hassan

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘shadowy’ by tord boontje image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 stephen burks’s pieces designed for the exhibition

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 stephen burks’s pieces designed for the exhibition

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘bayekou’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 installation view of furniture pieces by ayse birsel + bibi seck and patricia urquiola image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 african craftspeople weaving ‘madame dakar’

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘madame dakar’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 detail image © designboom

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘madame dakar’ leg detail by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘bench’ designs by ayse birsel + bibi seck

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘rift’ by patricia urquiola is a one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘bench’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 exhibition view image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘do-lo-rez-‘ by ron arad, one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘victoria & albert sofa’ by ron arad, one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘antibodi’ by patricia urquiola one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘princess’ by nipa doshi and jonathan levien one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘bouquet’ chair by tokujin yoshioka one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 ‘binta’ by philippe bestenheider one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

 

 

 

‘binta’ is upholstered in multicolour patchwork wax prints.

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 sticky tape covered chair by soly cisse image © designboom

 

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 sketch of sticky tape covered chair by soly cisse

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 five african cities (dakar, addis abeba, harare, pretoria, bamako),  a photographic survey part of a bigger, exhibition held at harvard in 2007 by david adjaye image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 scenographic photo by mademory, a self taught photographer image © designboom

 

m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09 photo by mandemory image © mandemory

 

 

 

see images of the building up of the ‘m’afrique’ exhibition.