Malene's Africa-inspired carpets

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 ancient Mali city's mud architecture; bottom right and center, Wolof, center right, a cowry shell patterned Cowrie, and above that (top right) Papunya (which is not African inspired but rather by the Aborigenes in Australia.) Top left Market Women and top center: Mendhi. 
Malene's Africa travels have taken her, to date to Senegal, Gambia, and Ghana. In Ghana, she participated in a cultual exchange program sponsored by the Afrikan Poetry Theater to learn native crafts, language and dance. Ghana's bustling capital city, Accra, provided the inspiration behind Market Women. Dakar, Senegal's Wolof traditional clothing also provided inspiration for carpet designs (such as, evidently, Wolof).  
Center: Wolof, over Calabash
This month, Malene started a collaboration with the home accessory company Surya: she introduced an exclusive carpet collection called Destinations & Voyages. It was introduced at the Atlanta International Gift Show on January 10, 2012. Here's to wishing Malene continued inspiration from all over the world.
Styles from the new Surya line




Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Please let me know your thoughts and questions. Also, if you feel that anything is incorrect, please let me know.
I need to moderate the comments, as in recent years there has been a spike in spam.

Popular posts from this blog

Recipe: Okra stew, adapted

Image
This is an adaptation of okra stew for Western kitchens. Okra is called "gombo" in Duala language (like "Gumbo" in the United States; the word arrived with the African slaves that were brought to the country). Fresh raw okra Ingredients Smoked turkey (drumsticks or wings) OR beef for stew   Onions, chopped Canned tomatoes (crushed) Bouillon cube 1-2 tbsp natural peanut butter (for example from health food store) with no added sugar Okra (fresh or frozen) – chopped, cap removed Salt/pepper If desired , scotch bonnet hot pepper, preferably red     Sauté chopped onions; add turkey or beef cut in pieces. Add chopped okra (part can be put in a blender with the tomatoes if preferred), crumbled bouillon cube, salt (not too much because of the bouillon cube and possibly salt in the turkey and peanut butter), pepper and some water; dilute peanut butter with some water and add to pot. Add hot pepper (whole) if desired. Cook over medium heat (after liquid boils) for a
Read more

Bibi Seck, Industrial Designer in New York City

Image
Ayse,  Bibi, and daughters  Bibi Seck is an industrial and product designer of Senegalese and Martiniquais descent,  introduced from afar by Fatimata Ly, a Senegalese ceramics designer I wrote about last year. As a matter of fact, I had been hearing about him and his spouse, Ayse Birsel, for a while already: the New York African design community is not that large, and especially an African married to a fellow Middle Easterner (Turks are Middle Easterners as well as Europeans, with literally a foot in both worlds; and of course we had the Ottoman Empire for six centuries!). Moroso-M'Afrique collection Bibi’s stools, made in Senegal, of recycled plastic, are currently exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design’s Global Africa show. I interviewed him last week to find out what his path had been to this point. Bibi was raised between Europe and Senegal.He had planned on studying architecture at first, but then found his true vocation in Industrial Design at the Ec
Read more

El Anatsui: 2013 Brooklyn Museum Retrospective

Image
"Gli" (Wall), 2010, at the beginning of the exhibition area, Brooklyn Museum What a life trajectory. El Anatsui's work is now featured in a retrospective at one of the United States' premier museums, the Brooklyn Museum :  Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui , curated by Kevin Dumouchelle. El Anatsui has been shown at New York City's contemporary African art galleries since over 20 years, such as Skoto Gallery and the  Contemporary African Art  gallery. The first pieces I had seen, in the 1990s, and admired, were made of wood, and I still have a Newark Museum postcard I held on to since 2007. Several years ago, both Skoto Gallery and the Contemporary African Art Gallery staged a double exhibit of El Anatsui's new metal work, which is the art that finally made him famous worldwide, at the age of sixty! "Amewo" (People) - 1998, modified 2010 The art  was so wonderful to behold that we all wanted a piece, even though none of
Read more