The renewed interest in the African diaspora that pervaded, to name one event, the XVII International Architecture Biennale of Venice, also finds space in the world of collectible design.
The Lausanne gallery Foreign Agent specializes inartists of African origin bringing us into contact with unpublished materials from the "north of the world" and local techniques from low tech.
Examples include the finely lacquered coconut wood container by Jean-ServaisSomian, the furniture in recycled tin from oil barrels by Hamed Ouattara and the textile works of the Congolese-born artist Maliza Kiasuwa who, in biomorphic forms, examines transformative and regenerative processes in an attempt to understand the mystery of life.
There was no shortage of more established African artists such as the Senegalese Seyni Awa Camara, also exhibited at the Center Pompidou, who creates clay sculptures in her courtyard, then fired in an open hearth oven.
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