6.4. Unwasted_African aesthetics and the global translation of African narratives with Prof. Mugendi Kanampiu M’Rithaa
My African AestheticPlay episode
Show notes
Professor Mugendi Kanampiu M’Rithaa is a pioneering transdisciplinary designer, educator, and President Emeritus of the World Design Organization. He is a thinker whose work spans continents, cultures, and causes, a passionate advocate for design as a transformative force on the African continent and a believer in the idea of “Afrika with a K” – a linguistic and philosophical shift toward self-definition and narrative ownership.
In this interview, anchored in the project Unwasted by Holos Creative Solutions Afrika LTD, Mugendi helps us unpack the effects of consumerism, post-consumer waste and colonial legacies on African beauty standards and forms of artistic expression. Unwasted reimagines discarded synthetic hair as a material of value but also sparks deeper reflections on African aesthetics, material culture, and self-definition. We reflect on how African women navigate inherited colonial beauty norms, the environmental burden of synthetic hair, and the loss of indigenous African art, design and architecture knowledge systems.
Professor M’Rithaa calls for a reclamation of traditional African hair practices – ethically, aesthetically, and sustainably – illustrating how local and indigenous cultural practices interact with global consumer-driven beauty ideals. He takes us on a journey through African aesthetic traditions – from the symbolic meanings of hair and adornment, to the deep knowledge systems embedded in crafts, patterns and materials. Our dialogue moves beyond African hair aesthetics examining broader questions of community-based craft, circular economies, and how African artists, architects and creatives are shaping a vibrant, self-defined aesthetic.
Professor M’Rithaa invites us to rethink our materials, our methods, and our mindsets – in service of a more sustainable, culturally grounded, and creatively liberated future for African aesthetic and design philosophy.Link to UNWASTED Documentary | Holos Creative Solutions (HCS_Afrika Ltd): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX2WWoguuz4 Produced for PRAKSIS Presents/ https://www.praksisoslo.org/presents. Guest edited by My African Aesthetic under the theme: “African aesthetics- a diasporan perspective”Support the showInstagram: @myafricanaesthetic
Website: https://www.myafricanaesthetic.com/
