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Showing posts from January, 2013

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year to Africa... May 2013 be a year in which more African countries move forward, away from corruption, away from external exploitation of their resources, away from the consequences of colonialism and post-colonialism. Forward to progress, however imperfect. Mbu mwa  peña  mwa bwam! (Happy New Year in Duala)

Malene's Africa-inspired carpets

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A sampling of the African-inspired collection It's been many years since the first time I heard of Malene Barnett: and in fact, I didn't meet her myself at the time; it was my husband, Epee Ellong , whom she interviewed for African Voices  magazine. I kept in touch over the years, and Malene is now a talented carpet designer and entrepreneur. Recently I caught up with her at her studio on Brooklyn, where I went to pick up a small carpet I had purchased. Malene B. Photo courtesy of Malene B. Malene's background is in textile art, painting and illustration. Having worked for many years in the textile industry, and then in the carpet industry, and  traveled to several continents, she had loaded up inspiration and made the next step by founding her own carpet company, Malene B . For this blog, of course, the highlight is on her African-inspired designs.  In the photo above, we have; bottom left: the green   Adinkra , above it,  Timbuktu,  reminiscent of this a