Organised by the Design Kenya Society (DKS) in collaboration with University of Nairobi’s School of the Arts and Design.
Reflecting a concern for design as well as for the broader issue of creating sustainable social change, especially in Africa.
The keynote address was given by the South African director of Innovation & Transformation, Africa, Abbas Jamie.
The second Nairobi International Design Conference (NIDEC) opened yesterday and continues all day today at the brand new University of Nairobi Towers.
Organised by the Design Kenya Society (DKS) in collaboration with University of Nairobi’s School of the Arts and Design, the conference brings together professional designers, academics and design students as well as ‘Jua Kali’ [informal] designers from all over the world.
“The conference is essentially grounded in the notion of design as a driving force for sustainable social change in Africa,” says Dr Lilac Osanjo, who is the DKS chairperson as well as director of Nairobi University’s School of Arts and Design and the conference organiser.
Reflecting a concern for design as well as for the broader issue of creating sustainable social change, especially in Africa, the conference theme this year is on ‘Integrated Design Solutions for a Better Africa: Seeing the Big Picture’.
To explore the topic, the gathering will feature a series of panels, presentations and workshops as well as exhibitions generated by a design challenge addressed to students drawn from the Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi Institute of Technology and University of Nairobi.
Other Kenyan universities to be represented at the conference are Kenyatta and Moi Universities as well as universities of Machakos and Maseno.
As Design Kenya Society was established in 2010 as an initiative of the World Design Organisation (WDO), board members of WDO will also be attending the conference.
They’ll be coming from China, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark as well as from Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa.
The actual founder of DKS is Prof Mugendi M’Rithaa who was also the president of the World Design Organisation from 2012 to 2016.
Dr Onsanjo says she will be especially honoured at the conference for his contribution to advancing the dynamic role of design in social development in Africa.
Prof M’Rithaa, who is an Industrial designer, taught briefly at UoN but later did advanced studies in South Africa where he’s been teaching ever since. He is currently a senior lecturer and researcher at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town.
Opening the conference yesterday, Dr Osanjo spoke about ‘Design as the Heart of Societal Change’. She was followed by Prof M’Rithaa who addressed the broad theme of ‘Global Design Integration Trends.’
Prof M’Rithaa will also be part of a panel today focused on the topic, ‘The Impact of Globalisation on African Design’.
The keynote address was given by the South African director of Innovation & Transformation, Africa, Abbas Jamie.
Case studies of local design firms like Kitengela Hot Glass, will be illustrative of how far product design has come in Kenya.
But product design is just one of the design areas that are taught at University of Nairobi, says Dr Osanjo.
There’s also interior design, graphic design, fashion and textile design and Illustration, all of which has the potential to play pivotal roles in bringing about positive and sustainable change in African societies.
Dr Osanjo said all the papers delivered during the conference will be published in a special edition of Habitat Design, a journal published by University of Nairobi.
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