Design & Innovation Exhibition
Where Africa’s Next Generation Is Discovered
A curated platform dedicated to new ideas, emerging talent, and future-focused design. We provide a space for experimentation, discovery, and exchange.
Partner Events
A Platform for Discovery
At the heart of the Design & Innovation Exhibition is discovery. The exhibition spotlights designers working at the intersection of creativity, material exploration, and technology.
Projects may be conceptual, research-led, or prototype-based, reflecting design as a process rather than only a finished outcome.
Expertise
The Curators
The Design & Innovation Exhibition is shaped by curators whose work spans design practice, education, and cultural leadership.
Norman Teague
Lead Curator — National Design + Innovation Pavilion & African Diaspora Pavilion
Founder of Norman Teague Design Studios, Chicago. Teague’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Venice Architecture Biennale, and is held in the collections of LACMA, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Vitra Design Museum. He is a collaborator on the Obama Presidential Center and Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Nana Biamah-Ofosu
Curator — Anglophone Africa Pavilion
Architect, writer and founder of YAA Projects. Nana lectures at the Architectural Association in London and has taught at institutions including Kingston University and Venice Biennale College Architettura. Her work was part of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale and explores African modernity, urbanism and diasporic culture.
Ousmane Mbaye
Curator — Francophone Africa Pavilion
Designer and cultural practitioner working across design, research and creative ecosystems. His work has been presented at major platforms including the Dakar Biennale, Design Weeks across Africa and the Institut Français network. He is committed to expanding dialogue and opportunity for emerging voices across Francophone Africa.
Julio Rafael
Curator — Lusophone Africa Pavilion
Designer and researcher whose work explores contemporary Lusophone African design through material culture, identity and storytelling. His practice fosters dialogue between tradition and innovation across Portuguese-speaking communities and creative ecosystems.
Submit Your Project
Are you a designer or manufacturer pushing the boundaries of African innovation? We invite you to submit your prototypes for the next exhibition cycle. Selected projects gain access to international mentors, industrial partners, and a global spotlight.
Eligibility
Open to all designers of African descent or based on the continent. Prototypes must be original and scalable.
Deadline
Early entries close March 15th, 2025. Standard submissions due by May 1st, 2025.
