TRANSMISSIONS WAS THE STUDIO’S FIRST EXHIBITION TO BE BOTH CURATED AND SCENOGRAPHED IN-HOUSE. IT TOOK PLACE FROM 7 TO 14 JULY 2023 AT UNION DE LA JEUNESSE INTERNATIONALE, WITHIN THE FORMER TATI BARBÈS BUILDING IN PARIS. THE EXHIBITION BROUGHT TOGETHER 11 DESIGNERS WHOSE PRACTICES USE DESIGN AS A WAY TO SHAPE, QUESTION, AND TRANSCEND DIASPORIC, PERSONAL, AND COLLECTIVE NARRATIVES—WHETHER REAL OR IMAGINED. FROM ITS VERY BEGINNINGS, DESIGN HAS BEEN TIED TO A PROCESS OF EMANCIPATION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION. IT OPERATES AT THE INTERSECTION OF DISCIPLINES, BRIDGING THE HUMAN AND THE INDUSTRIAL, HOMO FABER AND WHAT HE CREATES, BECOMING A LANGUAGE THROUGH WHICH OBJECTS TAKE FORM AND CONVEY MEANING. IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL INNOVATION, DESIGN METHODS EXTEND FAR BEYOND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, OPENING ONTO TRANSDISCIPLINARY PRACTICES AND BROADENING THE HORIZONS OF THE APPLIED ARTS. AS A DESIGNER AND FOUNDER OF AHOMÉ, WILLINA BELIEVES THAT THE WAY WE SEE AND REPRESENT THE WORLD DIRECTLY SHAPES HOW IT IS BUILT. FOR THIS REASON, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO MAKE SPACE FOR OTHER PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN. THE WORKS PRESENTED IN THE EXHIBITION MOVE BEYOND AESTHETICS ALONE AND CHALLENGE THE TRADITIONAL POSITION OF THE DESIGNER AS MERE MAKER. THROUGH THIS EXPLORATION, VISITORS ENCOUNTER PRACTITIONERS WHO MOVE BEYOND THAT ROLE TO INHABIT THOSE OF THE WEAVER, THE STORYTELLER, OR THE ACTIVIST. THROUGH THEIR PRACTICES AND CHOSEN MEDIA, EACH DESIGNER OFFERS BOLD RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY, LEGITIMACY, MIGRATION, ORIGIN, AND BELONGING. BY BRINGING THESE PROJECTS TOGETHER IN A SYMBOLIC SITE SUCH AS TATI BARBÈS, THE STUDIO SOUGHT TO CREATE A DIALOGUE BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT, BETWEEN CULTURES AND THEIR INHERITANCES. IT PROPOSED A NARRATIVE IN WHICH NOTIONS OF VALUE, BELONGING, AND TRANSFORMATION ARE REIMAGINED THROUGH STORIES DECENTERED FROM THE WEST.

DESIGN, NARRATIVES, IDENTITIES. @UNIONJEUNESSEINTERNATIONALE PHOTOS BY DINA-ÈVE DELY