David Stairs
Sometimes it takes a minute. By that I am referring to the 20-years it took me to get this book out.
The design establishment is not very interested in Africa except as a potential market. I know this because of the discernible yawn my project proposals elicited from any of the design publishers I approached. That the topic is pertinent goes without saying. Interest in indigenous design is running high. That the artefacts are fascinating speaks for itself. But Design with that cap D is so comfortable with its navel-gazing nostrums about the wonders of AI, and the importance of branding, and the business of business…, and…, etc…, etc….
That’s OK. I’m satisfied with the outcome of the project. The guy who wrote the foreword, internationally respected Zimbabwean designer Saki Mafundikwa says it’s the book he wishes he’d written. Ditto for my other reviewers. It’s an original concept, a spare text, and beautiful images wonderfully printed by Central Michigan University’s Printing Services. As I told them when I picked the books up, “We may not win any awards, but we certainly deserve to.”
For those afficianados of all things African, enjoy. The book can be purchased from Printed Matter, my long-time New York dealer here: https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/69890
David Stairs is the founding editor of the Design-Altruism-Project.
