Celebrating Africa

Congratulations South Africa for hosting such a fun, festive and joyful World Cup!

It was so refreshing. The culture and flora/fauna of Africa has always inspired artists and designers. In outdoor decor, too. Why not have a little African style in our own home to keep the spirit going? With the heat wave it is even more fitting.

Moroso in a deliberate wish to help the world know Africa better and promote contemporary African culture has develop a range called M’Afrique by designers Patricia Urquiola and Birsel+Seck.

Patrizia Moroso explains:

Multifaceted, modern Africa deserves to be known and sustained for the originality of the creative languages with which it enriches global culture. The African continent is extraordinarily rich in creativity, materials and ideas that are sources of inspiration and nourishment for us. When applied to design, they engender products which exude tradition and modernity, innovation and history, form and beauty. I think there is so much of Africa and in this event my intent was to showcase the creativity of a few of the great artists and personalities of contemporary African culture. Going beyond the stereotypes that present Africa as a tragic or, at best, exotic experience, we want to highlight some aspects of contemporary African culture, which is in effect comparable to global culture. 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.

This year, they added Ibiscus armchair and Meridienne sofa by Dominique Pétot, which comes in colors ranging from chestnut and black with orange stripes to red and white with a slight brown stripe.

If you want to play the theme in a less committal way then opt banners like those designed by Deborah Sommers. She had included the full zoo: zebra, leopard and giraffe. Though a more literal translation of the spectacular animal population of Africa, these banners are a more understated and less tacky way to incorporate animal prints into your outdoor decor. They are weather resistant and recyclable.