Decor Archives - atelier 55 - Contemporary African Design

Mutapo Ceramics Marjorie Wallace Afrika Handmade

Mutapo Ceramics Inspired by Zimbabwe’s Basket Weaving Traditions

Tucked away in Harare’s Miombo Woodland you will find Mutapo, a ceramic studio producing one-of-a-kind collectable crockery. Owned by Zimbabwean ceramicist, Marjorie Wallace, Mutapo has gained international recognition for its intricately decorated porcelain ceramics often coloured with the studio’s signature blue and white glaze. The patterns adorning each product are inspired by the patterns found in Africa’s basket weaving traditions. Marjorie’s love for baskets stems from childhood and her memories of being surrounded by baskets.

Skinny laMinx Sunny Side Textile Collection

Decor South Africa Textiles

Skinny laMinx Fabrics Take You To The SunnySide

South African textile brand Skinny laMinx turns up the heat with their latest collection. The SunnySide is a feelgood collection that encourages us to bring a little sunshine and positive energy into our everyday lives. The collection of dining and kitchen textiles features bold patterns and colour prints in the Skinny laMinx signature style, which blends midcentury style, pattern and colour, with African chic.

Basket Weaving Decor Niger Rwanda Swaziland

Africa’s Basket Weavers Telling Stories Through Basketry

Basketry is a skill that has been practiced up and down the continent for centuries with examples from the past coveted by collectors around the world. Today Africa’s basket weavers are redefining the art form employing ingenious methods to create modern functional home decor products. But whilst these baskets may appear to be merely functional or decorative products, taking the time to look beyond the aesthetics reveals the layers of stories woven into the strands; as basketry -a skill traditionally practiced by women- carries within it the stories of livelihoods, of hopes, dreams, achievements, and sacrifices. Highlighting just how powerfully […]

Adele Dejak statement jewellery collections made in Kenya

Accessories Africa Ceramics Decor Design Ethiopia Fashion Ghana Kenya Morocco Nigeria Senegal Textiles

9 Designers Crafting A Well Made In Africa Aesthetic

Atelier Fifty Five spotlights the work of 9 dynamic designers whose innovative use of Africa’s diverse craft heritages is translated into modern sophisticated products for contemporary living. And in doing so are upholding the banner of Well Made In Africa. Re-imagining techniques and materials these designers are paying homage to the skill of making things by hand thereby recognising how craft is at the heart of true luxury.

Adinkra Symbols Divine Chocolate Ghana Packaging

Accessories Decor Design Food & Drink Ghana Jewellery South Africa

Design Inspired by the Decorative Forms Of Adinkra Symbols

As I highlighted in a previous editorial on Adinkra symbols are a much-referenced communication system that has endured to present day. The Adinkra symbols designs carry within them centuries of wisdom and are among one of the African continent’s oldest writing systems. The symbols have inspired designers and artists the world over who have drawn on the distinctive graphic shapes to create anything from jewellery to patterned textiles. I introduce 5 contemporary African brands referencing the Adinkra symbols in their designs, and in doing so giving them relevance in a modern day and age.

Decor Design South Africa

String Pendant Lamps Inspired by Traditional African Jewellery

Jewellery is one of my great loves, and was the main reason I started this blog. I wanted to use the space as a place to store my finds. So I couldn’t help but be instinctively drawn to a collection of string pendant lamps by South African product designer Candice Lawrence. Inspired by the beaded layers of traditional African jewellery, the African Woven Necklace Lamp Shade features three interconnected circular hoops each punctuated with colourful bands of hand wrapped thread.

Rose and Fitzgerald Ankole Horn Pierced Hurricane Light Atelier Fifty Five Feature

Africa Inspired Decor Uganda

Rose & Fitzgerald Beautiful Accessories Mixing Traditional Craft With A Modern Style Sensibility

Rose & Fitzgerald is a Ugandan design and craft studio that was born from of an American couple’s move to Kampala and their desire to share the craft and creativity of their adopted home with design lovers around the world, shining a spotlight on the skills and talent that is often over-looked in the global design industry.

Decor Design Ghana

Studio Badge Ghana Interior Elegant Accessories Combining Wood And Concrete

Studio Badge in Ghana creates chic lifestyle accessories for the modern home. Bearing a minimalist aesthetic underpinned by the founder’s architectural background, each product is handcrafted in limited edition quantities meaning a unique product.

Pinonord Afro Scandi Style Made In Kenya

Decor Kenya Textiles

Pino Nord’s Bold Afro Scandi Graphic Black and White Prints Made In Kenya

Bold graphic black and white prints with a distinctive Afro-Scandi aesthetic characterise the designs of Pino Nord, a design lifestyle company based in Nairobi, Kenya. Pino Nord draws on the minimalism of Scandinavian design, and fuses this with the vibrancy, boldness and artistic expression of daily life in Nairobi, and from this fusion comes a style that Pino Nord calls Tropical Minimalism.

Baba Tree Ghana Jemima Akologo Basket Atelier Fifty Five Feature

Basket Weaving Decor Ghana

The Baba Tree Basket Company

Bolgatanga in Ghana’s Upper East Region is synonymous with basket weaving, and the distinctive round-bellied Bolga Market basket with its sturdy handles. Building on the region’s basket weaving heritage local business The Baba Tree Basket Company is producing some stunning gravity-defying basket designs, woven from locally sourced natural materials and dyed in vibrant colours.

MitiMeth Water Hyacinth Fashion Accessories Handbags Atelier Fifty Five Feature

Accessories Decor Nigeria

MitiMeth Turning Water Hyacinth Into Functional Handcrafted Products

Water Hyacinth is a plant that takes root in waterways the world over, causing destruction to aquatic and plant eco-systems. For communities that rely on their waterways for food, livelihoods, and transportation water hyacinth blocks access to the water essential to their survival. In Nigeria, a local social enterprise, MitiMeth, is harvesting water hyacinth and turning it into functional handcrafted products, and empowering members of the local community.

Textile Designer Kirsten Hecktermann Wooden Jam Spoons Hand Carved In Kenya Atelier Fifty Five

Decor Kenya

Kirsten Heckertmann Wooden Spoons Hand Carved in Kenya

You can never have too many wooden spoons. In all shapes, sizes and natural tones, a collection by British textile designer Kirsten Hecktermann leaves you spoilt for choice.

Tongoro Made In Africa - Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair

Decor Design Events Fashion Jewellery Kenya Morocco Nigeria Senegal South Africa

Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair Presents The 2017 Well Made In Africa Exhibitors

Earlier this year, I was honoured to have been appointed the guest curator for the prestigious Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair’s Well Made in Africa showcase. 2017 introduces a new, exquisite selection of Well Made in Africa exhibitors from the continent under the curatorship of Tapiwa Matsinde, author of Contemporary Design Africa. Tapiwa presents a selection that is anchored in heritage & modernity. This year Sanlam HmC will host the work of a dynamic group of designers who have been chosen for their innovative use of Africa’s diverse craft heritages to create modern sophisticated products for contemporary living. And with […]

Art Decor Design Events South Africa

Le BHV Marais Paris Celebrates South African Art and Design

Paris is having a love affair with all things contemporary Africa design, fashion, culture, and lifestyle. First is was Africa as the guest of honour at the Paris Art Fair held in March/April, then Africa Now at the Galeries Lafayette shopping destination, and now the iconic department store Le BHV Marais in the heart of the historic and trendy Marais district, which dedicates almost two months to celebrating contemporary South African art and design and culture.

Mash T Design Studio Beaded Tutu Pendant light designed by South African designer Thabisa Mjo

Decor Design South Africa

Designer Thabisa Mjo Showstopping Tutu Light Inspired by the Tsonga Skirt

I love how culture inspires modern design, enabling traditional designs and objects to take on new roles within a society so that they are not forgotten. And it was for this reason that I was drawn to the show-stopping TUTU 2.0 light by South African interior designer, Thabisa Mjo who is the owner and Creative Director of Mash T. Design Studio in Johannesburg.

Olivia Knox Ankole Horn Bath Accessories

Decor Uganda

Olivia Knox Accessories Inspired by The Beauty of Ankole Horn

Olivia Knox is an interior accessories company born out of seeing the beauty in Ankole horn, which has a distinctive light ivory colour. The company was founded by Olivia Byanyima who hails from Uganda and lives in New York, and Shanley Knox from California, and is driven by the story of Olivia’s childhood in Uganda, where she spent a lot of time on her father’s ranch watching his herd of Ankole cattle roam the surrounding plains alongside buffalo, zebra, leopard, and lion.

Decor Food & Drink

Aduna Boabab Pop Art and African Print Inspired Gift Tins

Just in time for the Christmas season of giving Aduna Baobab has released a collection of gift tins each covered in one of the brand’s signature African print textile inspired patterns, accentuated with a pop art twist. The tins are designed to store favourite foods and snacks or to give as gifts.

Architecture Decor Interiors South Africa Travel

Mhondoro Game Lodge Spotlights African Design

Mhondoro Game Lodge in Welgevonden Reserve, South Africa opened in early 2016 and seeks to move beyond being just another luxury Africa travel bush destination. Designed to give guests a seamless experience of luxury interiors and bushveld landscape Mhondoro Game Lodge combines cutting-edge architecture with some of the best in African design interior inspiration. The Mhondoro Game Lodge was created by interior designer Myriam Vogel who co-owns the lodge with her husband Frank.

Decor Design Interiors Lifestyle South Africa

YSWARA Unveils A Tranquil Tearoom To Savour Precious African Teas

There is nothing I love more than a good cup of tea, the stronger the better. Anytime is teatime as far as I am concerned, so you can only imagine what I think about those who take their tea as seriously as I do. Like YSWARA for instance, the luxury tea brand championing made in Africa, who are reviving the ceremony of ancient African tea drinking rituals with its offering of specially blended teas and accompanying accessories. And now you can immerse yourself fully in the YSWARA brand experience with the launch of their flagship tearoom and store in […]

Africa Decor Lifestyle Madagascar

M PROJECT BY BAOBAB COLLECTION, INTERIOR ACCESSORIES INSPIRED BY AFRICA

Belgian interior fragrance brand, Boabab Collection recently launched a new range of scented candles that celebrate exquisite African craftsmanship, natural materials, and invigorating scents. [Main image credit: Mena Max 24 Candle –M project by Baobab Collection – Delyss]

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