Patrizia Moroso, creative director of the Italian design company, Moroso, created an homage to African design at Salone del Mobile 2009 and then again at ICFF, collaborating with a slew of star designers including Ayse Birsel & Bibi Seck and Patricia Urquiola.  The work is nothing short of phenomenal.

Me-Design magazine says: “2009 looks set to be a year for the girls at Moroso …  they’ll also be exhibiting pieces from all-girl design studio Front.”

Patrizia Moroso

hmm. that leads me onto yet another treasure hunt..

See more images at Greece-based design website, Yatzer.com.

How I went to a Mali culture and design expo and ended up befriending and creating a blog for an inspiring and charitable design co-op from Mali two days later in my apartment. Hugs all around.

Mali’s board of tourism arrived here in Barcelona last week at Palau Robert 107, Passeig de Gracia. I made a beeline for the Casa de Mali table to find out about the women involved.

Miriam Sidibe Dembelle, all sold out at the Mali fair in Barcelona

I was ushered to a table belonging to a woman named Mariam who’s organization, Musodanbe (“the dignity of women” in the language of Bambara), out of Kayes, Mali, West Africa was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 as part of the ‘1,000 women project‘. She brings together women and teaches them the skills of dying, loom weaving, basket weaving, crocheting, and soap milling as well as cooking and French language courses  in order to provide them with the tools for self-sufficiency and dignity in this very male dominated culture where women, without a husband or familial support, have little hope of escaping prostitution and a life of begging.

In addition to the charitable act, the things these women make are breathtaking.  They use recycled bags and turn them into baskets. They weave and hand dye textiles, and create bags and rugs.

We spoke in French and then she handed me her only English pamphlet, poorly written and flagrantly advertising the services of a company in Harlem in several places that had nothing to do with her company.  She had paid forty dollars to a woman to write this for her and was angry that she took advantage of her lack of English and used the space to advertise her own business. Her own email address and contact information was nowhere on the paper.

I asked her if she had a website. She does, she told me, but it’s very antiquated and too expensive to update.

Had she heard of blogs?

No.

A crowd gathered. Nobody could conceive of the idea that you could update a website and show pictures of your work, all for free. So I decided to help her. Obviously.

Two days later, she came over to our apartment with a flash drive. I created a wordpress blog for her and we became ‘amies’, hopefully for life.

She gave me this beautiful hand-dyed hand-sewn indigo fabric which now is draped over the back of my red couch. I am taking orders for these items in participation of a more seamless process of selling her gorgeous goods into the American and European retail markets.

Her organization, Musodanbe is part of the Association Yetaaso in Kayes, Mali, West Africa and this is her new blog.  Product list and descriptions to follow.

one better - multi colored, wider bangle

This piqued my curiousity (see post on top of this one). These are like Madonna ‘goomie’ bracelets in glorious African colors. Who were the women behind them -and how could I make them available from the artisan to your doorstep? I happened upon the story of Rose Bere, a woman from Burkina Faso, just south of Mali, who leads a group of women in making bracelets from cast-off plastic woven rugs. You can buy these amazing similar cuffs and give back to a company that is a member of such reputable organizations as Fair Trade Federation, Coop America, Social Venture Network, and the Aid to Artisan Trade Network through One World Artisans.

Price:

• $2.50 / narrow bracelet
• $3.50 / bangle

View Larger Map.

More Mali stars..

More on Mali – Sokona Niakathe bring couture to Mali

Sika Inspired by Ghana, West Africa,

“All garments are produced in Ghana by highly skilled tailors and seamstresses. The highest standards in garment production is an integral part of Sika’s mission. We work very closely with local traders and manufacturers to produce quality garments for the international market. By generating regular income for those involved, we are able to give back to the Ghanaian community and raise the standard of garment production.”

-Phyllis Taylor, founder of Sika Designs, from Ghana who won ‘most outstanding contribution to the fashion industry’ at the Black Business Initiative awards in 2006.

…I wish there was more on Ms. Taylor and a list of stockists (until I can convince her to sell right here on What Women Make that is!). There isn’t even a bio on her site, but her sense of cut and color are impeccable…

I got back to Barcelona Monday and still have intense jet lag from two weeks in New York where I fell back into my Newyorkness in a way I hadn’t since I left three years ago.  Meeting. Meeting. Meeting. Run. Run. Run. Restaurant. Restaurant. Restaurant.  I emptied out my storage thanks to Ms. Morgan Zalkin and got rid of my lonely upended pottery barn couches and 26th street antiques.

In my efforts to get back into the swing of things on the shores of the Mediterranean, I went back to my favorite place in Barcelona, the Boqueria, and picked out a gorgeous white sea bass, a “corvina” or “corvina rubia” also known as “white crocker” and had my fishmonger debone it and cut it into two fillets.

I was considering, at first, the “lubinas playa” or regular sea bass but it was twice the cost. The corvina was 9 euros total and the lubina would have been 24 euros. Unnecessary! Just cut out the ugly.  This fish, like a handful of others, have this green spiky fuzz coming out in rows over a lump the size of a golf ball inside their gills. It is a horrific sight so I specified: off with its head! I guess I had the NYer in me in full effect because I jumped when a langoustine (nephrops norvegicus) made a break for it right next to me landing on the salty wet floor. I got the well-deserved ‘turistas’ look but I made it out of there with two gorgeous filets.

At the Latin American stand, I bought:

• 2 avocados, soft and dark
• a bag of limes (you need at least 5 or 6!)
• a bag of lemons (at least 4 or 5)
• a red onion
• a few serrano chiles
• 4 medium vine ripe tomatoes
• 2 plantains – 1 yellow, 1 green is most fun but 2 green or yellow are fine (that’s for the side dish – hold it for now)
• 1 packet of corn tortillas (if you don’t want to make them yourself)
• Cilantro / Coriander (depending on what language you are speaking)

I cycled back an hauled my groceries up 5 flights to my ‘attico’ apartment with my dog under one arm.  I put on some music and got to work:  I minced half a red onion.  I seeded and chopped up a cup of tomatoes. Put those in a ceramic baking dish (no metal! glass okay too).  I squeezed 1/2 a cup of lemon juice and 1/2 a cup of lime juice.  I seeded and cut up 2 chiles and swished it around in the lime/lemon juice. I washed and further deboned the fish. I put 1/2 inch chunks over the tomato/onion then poured the lime/lemon/chile juice over top. I washed the cilantro and spun it in my lettuce spinner. I took whole leaves and placed it throughout the mixture. Covered and let sit one hour. Then mixed around to make sure all was covered. Put back another few hours.

Meanwhile, I sliced the plantains the long way. I had one yellow and one green. The yellow is sweet. The green is starchy. I took off the peel after slicing the long way and then continued to cut into long vertical strips, about a half a centimeter apart. I put half an inch of oil in a pan.

Then Peter came home bringing some Estrella Damm beer which we both like.

He set the table on the terrace with my new turqouise cutaway lace rubber placemats I bought in Brooklyn for $3 each at A&G Merch as part of my design-in-Bk research (which he doesn’t like unfortunately but I do. Do you?) and silverware and plates.

I put the oven on low and warmed up the tortillas, then threw the plantain slices into sizzling oil for 5-7 minutes (no need to flip, just scoot the pieces around the pan). I took them out and put them in a great heap on a plate with salt and pepper and drizzled honey on top and around the side of the dish for dipping.

On the table: four scoops of avocado, a bowl of limes in one of my grandmother’s old teacups, a bundle of cleaned cilantro.

We had a little feast and then took the Nij for a walk in the park.

Voila. The end.

-Chauncey Zalkin