UPCOMING DESIGN IN AFRICA
What do Africa and design have in common? They both cover a very large
area! Africa extends all the way from Algeria and Morocco in the north
to Botswana and South Africa down south, with 52 African nations in
all. Design extends its influence all the way from small personal
belongings to large industrial equipment and nothing at all can be made
successfully without being designed elaborately.
The development of design in Africa has followed the path that has been witnessed in the rest of the world. It began with the gradual transition from the ‘father to son’-led design practice, whereby all the design thinking conceptualisation, alternative strategies, design decisions, material selection, making and evaluation, etc., rested in the minds of the craft-designers, to the realisation that design can have an impact on economic performance. In Africa’s case, however, this realisation came only recently. However, Africa, as a continent, neither participated in the Renaissance, nor in the Industrial Revolution and so those factors that led to the use of effective design did not appear until recent years. In the era of global competitiveness in which we live, nothing at all can make its way to the market without being a creative design backed by creative thinking and extensive research. The fact that Africa did not realise the importance of design sooner is certainly one of the reasons why today to state of African economies is so dismal.
Once, it became clear that design could make a difference, however, the concept of industrial design began sweeping in Africa. South Africa assumed the role of engine of development in Africa by leading in design in all its meanings. Schools of industrial design, ceramics design, apparel design and engineering design subsequently propagated the knowledge of design and gave birth to creative designer in Africa. Through this process, other African nations emerged as effective design users, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Morocco and, of course, Botswana in particular. Design & Technology arose as a school subject in Botswana during the 1990s and the University of Botswana began the five-year B.Des programme in 2002. Almost all the industries in Botswana are aware of the programme and some of them are actively participating in the programme by way of attending industrial advisory meetings and by providing industrial training experience to the students during their 3rd and 4th years. Students of industrial design are poised to make an impact; yet, they are anxious whether they would get jobs in the thinly spread industry in Botswana. They need to know that their training allows them several other possibilities, like seeking jobs anywhere in Africa or the world and enterprising their own business by making use of a subsidy programme like the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency, commonly known as CEDA.
Botswana is really a beautiful country with to regards nature, wildlife and climatic conditions. Industrial designers in Botswana can derive themes and motivation for design from nature, environmental conservation and use of natural materials and can use them to make a difference in their work. The University of Botswana welcomes collaborative ventures, having an International Relations Office and several examples of successful collaborative projects at the university. For example, two postgraduate students from St-Cyr Academy France are currently engaged in designing a new and hygienic tow-able food vending machine to replace the mushrooming bazaar of vendors just outside the university.
The University of Botswana’s participation in the Icsid network is very important to us. In 2003, we worked closely with the Executive Board to boost the industrial design programme, adding a global focus to the specific needs of holistic design in Africa. We continue to work with Icsid and participate in its activities. We are currently working to commence M Phil and PhD programmes in product design and we hope to become the pioneers in Africa!
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Contribution by Kris Kumar, Professor of Industrial Design, University of Botswana
The development of design in Africa has followed the path that has been witnessed in the rest of the world. It began with the gradual transition from the ‘father to son’-led design practice, whereby all the design thinking conceptualisation, alternative strategies, design decisions, material selection, making and evaluation, etc., rested in the minds of the craft-designers, to the realisation that design can have an impact on economic performance. In Africa’s case, however, this realisation came only recently. However, Africa, as a continent, neither participated in the Renaissance, nor in the Industrial Revolution and so those factors that led to the use of effective design did not appear until recent years. In the era of global competitiveness in which we live, nothing at all can make its way to the market without being a creative design backed by creative thinking and extensive research. The fact that Africa did not realise the importance of design sooner is certainly one of the reasons why today to state of African economies is so dismal.
Once, it became clear that design could make a difference, however, the concept of industrial design began sweeping in Africa. South Africa assumed the role of engine of development in Africa by leading in design in all its meanings. Schools of industrial design, ceramics design, apparel design and engineering design subsequently propagated the knowledge of design and gave birth to creative designer in Africa. Through this process, other African nations emerged as effective design users, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Morocco and, of course, Botswana in particular. Design & Technology arose as a school subject in Botswana during the 1990s and the University of Botswana began the five-year B.Des programme in 2002. Almost all the industries in Botswana are aware of the programme and some of them are actively participating in the programme by way of attending industrial advisory meetings and by providing industrial training experience to the students during their 3rd and 4th years. Students of industrial design are poised to make an impact; yet, they are anxious whether they would get jobs in the thinly spread industry in Botswana. They need to know that their training allows them several other possibilities, like seeking jobs anywhere in Africa or the world and enterprising their own business by making use of a subsidy programme like the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency, commonly known as CEDA.
Botswana is really a beautiful country with to regards nature, wildlife and climatic conditions. Industrial designers in Botswana can derive themes and motivation for design from nature, environmental conservation and use of natural materials and can use them to make a difference in their work. The University of Botswana welcomes collaborative ventures, having an International Relations Office and several examples of successful collaborative projects at the university. For example, two postgraduate students from St-Cyr Academy France are currently engaged in designing a new and hygienic tow-able food vending machine to replace the mushrooming bazaar of vendors just outside the university.
The University of Botswana’s participation in the Icsid network is very important to us. In 2003, we worked closely with the Executive Board to boost the industrial design programme, adding a global focus to the specific needs of holistic design in Africa. We continue to work with Icsid and participate in its activities. We are currently working to commence M Phil and PhD programmes in product design and we hope to become the pioneers in Africa!
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Contribution by Kris Kumar, Professor of Industrial Design, University of Botswana
Will the creative industry fare better in the global economic downturn than those in other sectors?
This is not your ordinary supermarket.