Thinking about Design in African Art

The form an object takes results from the interplay of many factors. An object’s intended use, along with the particular materials and techniques needed to make it, presents practical constraints and also suggests opportunities. “Design thinking”—a contemporary concept often used in engineering and business—describes a practice that empathizes with a user’s needs and then experiments to develop and refine a solution. While not African in origin, considering design as a way of thinking allows us to appreciate the ways that African artists have addressed aesthetic, social, and spiritual demands within their work.