ART AND DESIGN HELP IN AFRICA

In 2008 Leonard Shapiro met Italian artist Andrea Mariconti while in Milan and discussed the idea of holding an art workshop for vulnerable children in Cape Town, South Africa. Leonard has an organisation called ‘CRAFTSOUTHAFRICA‘. In 2009 Leonard organized the first workshop with kids in Gugulethu with Andrea facilitating the workshop. This is what is […]

July 19, 2011  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: AFRICA, ART, DESIGN  Comments Closed

THE FIRST TEST RUN SAUNA IN OUR SCHOOL IN EAST ICELAND

Here on the photo is the area where the sauna is being erected and the ceremonial area for burning and thinking and communicating. The location is very close to our building and is on the other side of the fjord from the main town. Tonight is the first official test of the new sauna that […]

July 16, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: ARCHITECTURE, ART, DESIGN, FASHION, ICELAND, SUSTAINABILITY  Comments Closed

COOPERATIVE WORKSHOP IN ISARC

Knitting and product design going on in the workshop room in ISArC. Everyone intensively busy all the time. Intensive focus on the graphic composition. In that group we concentrated on visual communication about Deforestation and Energy. Ane at the Mac-helm and the guys advicing. The last week has been filled with intensive work in ISArC […]

May 11, 2011  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: DESIGN, FASHION, ISAC - KHiO  Comments Closed

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN MOZAMBIQUE

The Fortalezza is often used for small exhibitions, concerts and other public events. The sign says: Exhibition of young entrepreneurs “the idea to work” A fundamental part of design is entrepreneurship. We have different conditions to deal with it, promote and support. My participation in Mozambique is somewhat similar to when I was (and when I work) in Reykjavik. Both places […]

May 2, 2011  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: AFRICA, DESIGN, ISAC - KHiO, MOZAMBIQUE  Comments Closed

PARK PROJECT IN MAPUTO

A banner on the fence to the park. It has all been fenced and has guards on the gates, something that is sensible for the darker hours. There are many ways to motivate design students but the most effective motivation to work hard is real projects. We have been so fortunate to be asked to […]

April 29, 2011  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: AFRICA, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, ISAC - KHiO, MOZAMBIQUE  Comments Closed

NÚCLEO – MAPUTO

The sign over the entrance to the arts gallery Núcleo de Arte is an old institution in Maputo. It is an important cultural and artists’ centre in the city. It is a collective for artists under the name of Associação Núcleo de Arte. It is the oldest collective of artists in Mozambique. Seated in an old […]

April 25, 2011  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: AFRICA, ART, DESIGN, ISAC - KHiO, MOZAMBIQUE, MUSIC  Comments Closed

ISARC STUDENT IN WORKSHOP IN CAPE TOWN

The article in the Times in Cape Town. You can print out a good copy of it here. Craft producers from throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have been participating in a workshop in Cape Town. This has been funded by the Kellogg Foundation and facilitated by the Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI). […]

April 24, 2011  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: AFRICA, DESIGN, MOZAMBIQUE, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

Mugendi M’Rithaa and African Design

I had a meeting with the highly sympathetic African design activist and educator Mugendi M’Rithaa in the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He operates in the Faculty of Design and Informatics. He is a co-founder of Design With Africa, a network for sharing a knowledge base and to be an open forum for debates and […]

April 22, 2011  Tags: , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: ART, DESIGN, MOZAMBIQUE, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

EMPOWERMENT, INNOVATION, DESIGN, PRODUCTION

The township where the centers are located. I visited ENZA in Cape Town, or actually on the outskirts of the city. It is a registered non-profit and public benefit organization based in the Paarl/Wellington area near the city. It aims to empower underpriviledged women and girls to build a future. It is driven by the […]

April 21, 2011  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: DESIGN  Comments Closed

A NEW PARK FOR ARTISANS AND CULTURE IN MAPUTO

A big sign on the park fence invites people to the new location for artisans and culture. The old Parque dos Continuadores was rather dilapidated when I first saw it. A bit scary and not to go into at night. Now it has been transformed and great stalls have been built for displaying work by […]

April 14, 2011  Tags: , , , , , , ,   Posted in: ARCHITECTURE, ART, DESIGN, ISAC - KHiO, MOZAMBIQUE  Comments Closed

The Startup Kids

The York News and Features says that Mark Zukerberg Won’t be the only Twentysomething Tech Founder with his own Movie. The Startup Kids is a documentary about young web entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe. It contains interviews with the founders of Vimeo, Soundcloud, PlayFish, WordPress, Posterous and many others who talk about how they started […]

April 12, 2011  Tags: , ,   Posted in: DESIGN, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

DESIGN OF PATTERNS IN MOZAMBIQUE

The 2nd year students in Design working on their computers. All of them have their own computer in some form and software to experiment with patterns and form. Maputo is a very vibrant city. I read last year (I think in the Economist – my favourite paper) that Maputo is the most culturally vibrant city […]

March 30, 2011  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: DESIGN, FASHION, ISAC - KHiO, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

10 YEARS OF DESIGN IN ICELAND – PAST DECADE

24th March 2001-2011 Today is ten years since we posted for the first time in Iceland an advertisement for applications to the new, first and only Design and Architecture Faculty in Iceland. Goddur, who is now the professor of graphic design in the Faculty made with me the advertisement that was posted in the largest […]

March 24, 2011  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, ICELAND, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

THE MARIUS CODE

Here is a small photo album from the opening I went to an exhibition opening yesterday of work by the Norwegian artist Marius Watz. I somehow bumped into Marius in my early days in Oslo and I became impressed by his methods and attitude I guess. He came to work in our faculty in Oslo, […]

March 12, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: ART, DESIGN, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed

DESIGN STRATEGIES, ADDRESSING CHANGE

The student gang in the studio environment. The compulsory coffee and waffle included. I have been running a simple course in design strategy in our design faculty in KHiO during the last week. The course is an introduction of the philosophy of design thinking and its participation in strategic changes in daily life. It has […]

March 10, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: DESIGN, PONDERINGS  Comments Closed