Behind The Design: Ep 5 Jomo Tariku | Talking diversity in African creativity, underrepresentation in design and being good enough to interpret our own culture

Ep 5 Jomo Tariku | Talking diversity in African creativity, underrepresentation in design and being good enough to interpret our own culture

Jul 9, 2020

This is episode #5 of season 3 Where I am joined by furniture and product designer Jomo Tariku.

ABOUT JOMO:

You are listening to episode number 5 of season 3. And joining me on the show is Jomo Tariku. Jomo is an Ethiopian / American artist and furniture designer. His company Jomo Furnitures creates pieces inspired by classical African design icons reinterpreting the forms for modern living.

We talk about:

The inspiration behind his designs and celebrating the diversity in African creativity
What being a member of The Black Artists and Designers Guild, has had on raising awareness of his work
Having a full-time day job and how he makes time to work on Jomo Furniture
Finding suitable manufacturers to work with to realise his designs
His thoughts on African design looking back on when he started to where he is now
Underrepresentation of African design and black designers in general in the global design industry

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

Kansas University

Addis Design Week

Dubai Design Week

Contemporary Design Africa

Malene Barnett

Black Artists and Designers Guild

Milan Design Week

Where you can go to find out more about Jomo Furniture:

www.jomofurniture.com

@jomofurniture

Get the full show notes at: www.atelier55design.com/podcast