In 2023, Nifemi Marcus-Bello remade the moon. At Design Miami last December he showed a series of seating and sculpture made from rough, sand-cast aluminum. The pieces evoked celestial forms but also, as he notes, traced the path of materials migrating to and from Africa. The Nigerian designer’s work regularly poses questions about the complexities of global production systems and contemporary West African experiences by exploring centuries-old metalworking techniques and synthesizing abstracted forms taken from multiple sources, including a show about folktales told in lunar light.
Tying multiple threads together is an important part of Marcus-Bello’s approach. After studying design in the U.K.,
