Prepare to know more about African textile design techniques than you did this morning, in particular bogalan, which uses mud or clay to shield sections of cloth from paint or dye, leaving the area underneath untouched. Boubacar Doumbia is one of the continent’s foremost bogalan authorities, and has entered into partnership with Habitat‘s senior textiles figure Rebecca Hoyes to create their Graphic Africa range of cushions and throws. The pair produced the designs – varying between intricate and bold – in the heat of Senegal, and they will be made in Doumbia’s youth initiative factories in Mali.
The textiles are part of a more extensive exploration into Africa by Habitat. Trevyn and Julian McGowan of Source in South Africa have curated a collection of furniture, ceramics, glassware and lighting representing the best of regional African design, and the items come from 16 Design Network Africa members who hail from 10 countries across the east, west and south of the continent. The Graphic Africa exhibition launched last month at London Design Festival and will remain until 20 October at the Platform space in Habitat’s King’s Road store, where you can also pick up a bogalan cushion for £30.
