Away from Africa

Nice, in southern France, is not a hotbed of African culture. So it was a surprise to see a poster for the exhibition Africa Pop , showcasing African textiles in an original way, at a museum I had never heard of, the Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole Jakovsky.  The museum in itself was a nice surprise. Anatole Jakovsky was an art critic, collector, and writer, of Moldovan origin, who was very interested in 20th Century "naive" art, art from self-taught artists. He donated his extensive collection to the city of Nice. The museum was opened in 1982, in the historical Château Sainte-Hélène, which used to belong to the perfumer François Coty. The ground floor houses the permanent collection, that includes well-known artists such as the postman Rousseau and Grandma Moses. Africa Pop (running through October 18, 2026) is on the upper floor.  There were many wall hangings made of superimposed African cotton fabrics ("pagne" in French), each wall hanging combining...

The store at Kloof Street, Cape Town One of the benefits of social media is that it showcases small businesses at a lesser cost to them than mainstream advertising. From realtors to children's clothing to handicrafts from all over the world, you can find so many wonderful small businesses. In the United States, small businesses create the majority of jobs. Ashanti Design's joyful multicolored striped bean bags and ottomans stand out easily. And the items are made from recycled fabric remnants to boot! Not only does Ashanti have great designs, but it is also a business based on sustainability on many levels, and on helping people in different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa make a living. Away from Africa held an interview with Rob Walker, the founder of Ashanti Design, in Cape Town, South Africa. - How did the business get started? We used to work with an American NGO funded by USAid and other foundations, Aid to Artisans  (ATA). We did a lot of work with them in Mozambique. Thi...

A photo gallery of new African puppets by Vickie Frémont, representing various regions and fabrics in the continent. Indigo Mudcloth Baule woven cloth Bazin fabric Korhogo fabric The puppets are to be shown at the upcoming SIRA event at the Maison de l'Afrique in Montreal, Canada, on November 7, 8 and 9, 2013. Vickie will be holding three workshops on Saturday, November 9. Maison de l'Afrique: 6256 Henri-Julien, Montreal - for more information: tel. 514-701-1433.

Display at R.W. King, Douala One of the first stops I made while in Douala was to buy pagne , African fabric, at R.W. King. Since a couple of years, women's clothing made with pagne is popping up in Saks Fifth Avenue and other upscale retailers' ads, at corresponding prices, in the many hundreds of dollars: Suno and Edun ; in France, Toubab Paris .* In Edun's case, it certainly helps that a celebrity ( Bono ) and his spouse, Ali Hewson--are behind it. These trademarks have one thing in common: non-African founders, which is sad, as the same thing happens in all design fields, and often not only for Africans, but all "developing" countries: if the designer is African (or Indian, or even Chinese), she/he is ignored by major Western media or trade representatives (retailers, galleries). On the other hand, when finally Africa joins the rest of the economically wealthy world, and I am convinced the day will come, this will become b...

Vickie Frémont Vickie Frémont has been designing and creating since she was 8 years old, drawing and painting without having ever been taught. At the age of 12 she began to sew, making dolls for her little sister. She was rather shy and spent most of her time as a child alone, reading, writing or knitting, beading… Vickie was born in Cameroon, but left at an early age. With her parents, she lived in Morocco, and many years in the Ivory Coast and in France. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree, in France, and planned to teach Spanish. She also studied anthropology and economics. However, at one point she was working in the neighborhood of the Necklaces Beaux Arts (fine arts) school and started studying Arts techniques, realizing that there was her calling. She operated a knit textile company for several years, employing 10 people, creating knit designs for such well-known brands as Georges Picaud, Anny Blatt, Pingouin, Phildar, Sonia Rykiel, Torrente, Dorothée Bis, Daniel Hetc...