m'afrique exhibition by moroso at milan design week 09

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

‘cardamone sofa’ by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘ibiscus’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi sec

‘touti’ stool by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘reii stool’ stool by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘madame dakar’ sofa by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘sunny bench’ by tord boontje

‘sunny’ chair by patricia urquiola

‘shadowy’ chaise lounge by toord boontje

‘shadowy’ armchair by tord boontje

‘iris’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘toogou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘nopolou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi speck

‘bayekou’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘gaal’ bench by ayse birsel & bibi seck

‘car-rapide’ small armchair by ayse birsel & bibi seck

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

entrance to the m’afrique exhibition image © designboom

‘eating stars’ by fathi hassan image © fathi hassan

‘shadowy’ by tord boontje image © designboom

stephen burks’s pieces designed for the exhibition

stephen burks’s pieces designed for the exhibition

‘bayekou’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

installation view of furniture pieces by ayse birsel + bibi seck and patricia urquiola image © designboom

african craftspeople weaving ‘madame dakar’

‘madame dakar’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

detail image © designboom

‘madame dakar’ leg detail by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

‘bench’ designs by ayse birsel + bibi seck

‘rift’ by patricia urquiola is a one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

image © designboom

‘bench’ by ayse birsel + bibi seck image © designboom

image © designboom

exhibition view image © designboom

‘do-lo-rez-‘ by ron arad, one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

image © designboom

‘victoria & albert sofa’ by ron arad, one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

‘antibodi’ by patricia urquiola one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

‘princess’ by nipa doshi and jonathan levien one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

‘bouquet’ chair by tokujin yoshioka one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

‘binta’ by philippe bestenheider one off piece interpreted in african fabrics image © designboom

‘binta’ is upholstered in multicolour patchwork wax prints.

sticky tape covered chair by soly cisse image © designboom

sketch of sticky tape covered chair by soly cisse

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

scenographic photo by mademory, a self taught photographer image © designboom

photo by mandemory image © mandemory

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