Hospitality Design - Marketplace Fall 2021 - 54

products profi le
By Katie Kervin
Photos by Franck Juery, Ed Reeve, Andreas Zimmermann Fotografi e, and courtesy of Ini Archibong
LEGACY MAKING
A conversation with multi-hyphenate creator Ini Archibong
From a watch collection with French luxury brand Hermès and a forthcoming chair
collection with Knoll, to his fi rst solo gallery exhibition in New York (scored with his
original music) and an Afrofuturism-inspired pavilion representing members of the
African diaspora for the 2021 London Design Biennale, there's not much renowned
Nigerian-American designer Ini Archibong can't (or won't) do. Here, the Switzerlandbased
Archibong sheds some light on his approach, how storytelling and mythology are
woven into his pieces, and what's on the horizon.
You've been incredibly busy: a solo gallery show, your forthcoming
collection with Knoll, and your recent award-winning pavilion for the
London Design Biennale.
Almost everything I do is currently represented somehow. I have the Pavilion of the
African Diaspora [created with his design team at LMNO collective] representing
my architectural skill works and monuments, the Knoll collection representing the
contract industry for industrial design, and Friedman Benda representing the gallery
and the art side. I also have the [Vernus 3 chandelier at the] Metropolitan Museum of
Art. In the background of all that, I have an exciting collaboration that's going to be
announced in a couple of weeks. I am busy doing things in diff erent areas all at the
same time, and traveling and making music when I can.
Tell us more about your recent Hierophany exhibition with the
Friedman Benda gallery.
The Friedman Benda show has 45 minutes of original music that I made while I
was designing the collection. Each of the pieces has its own storyline and mythology
att ached. The best way to describe the overall show is to view each of the pieces the
same way you would look at an artifact of an ancient future culture; something you
know is a bit anachronistic but fi ts in this time [period]. Everything is made using
traditional techniques. It's supposed to point to mythology that explains what's behind
the pieces, but also the reason or the type of energy that comes off the pieces into the
space they occupy.
That's part of the reason why the music is so important. The entirety of the show
isn't the narrative. It's an unspoken narrative. It's a story about humanity's place in
the universe and the heroic potentiality within us as humans. It borrows pieces from
religion, from diff erent mythologies I've studied, and from what I know of my West
African spirituality and animism and culture.
How does your process differ when you're creating something like the
Knoll series?
When working with brands, it's personal in a diff erent way. With gallery work, and
especially doing a solo show, that's like making an album. That's a moment in time. If
I want to make something that's going to be successful and produced on a large scale,
I need to tap into the part of me that exists beyond time-the things that I have in
common with as many diverse people as possible to try to make a product that appeals
to as many people as possible.

Hospitality Design - Marketplace Fall 2021

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