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Design Space AlUla Attends Milan Design Week as Part of Initiative to Celebrate Cultural Heritage

Design Space AlUla has showcased modern design at Milan Design Week. SPA
Design Space AlUla has showcased modern design at Milan Design Week. SPA
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Design Space AlUla Attends Milan Design Week as Part of Initiative to Celebrate Cultural Heritage

Design Space AlUla has showcased modern design at Milan Design Week. SPA
Design Space AlUla has showcased modern design at Milan Design Week. SPA

Design Space AlUla, a regional center dedicated to celebrating the works of local and international designers, has showcased modern design at Milan Design Week, that concludes Sunday 21.
The exhibition features, among others, projects from the thriving design center that has ambitious plans for the creative industries.
Among the exhibited works are recent projects from the first Arts and Design Center, Madrasat Addeera.
Participating artists from around the world contribute to the diverse collection. Saudi artist Dr. Zahrah Alghamdi's piece titled "Gharameel" draws inspiration from AlUla's distinctive rock formations. Argentine artist Cristian Mohaded's work, named "AlWaha", captures the essence of the desert dunes and palm-filled oases. The Spanish duo "TAKK's Duna" presents the Seating Dune, a versatile relaxation space inspired by the enchanting AlUla desert. TECHNOCrafts, a Spanish design studio, showcases "Alwadiya: The Living Pots", a self-sustaining system that mirrors the natural cycles of AlUla's lush oasis.
Additionally, the exhibition showcases designs from the AlUla Design Residency program. Highlights include "Peculiar Erosions" by artist Leo Orta, inspired by AlUla's mud-brick architecture and unique geology. "From Debris", by Raw Materials, reimagines local historical instruments with materials from the oasis. Architect Leen Ajlan presents "Takki", a modern reinterpretation of traditional recreational spaces. Hall Haus introduces "Haus Dari", a contemporary take on traditional cushions and diwans. "Surface", by Bahraini-Danish architecture firm, is a flexible steel divider facilitating interaction or serving as a screen or curtain.
Executive Director of Arts and Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) Nora Aldabal highlighted the significance of the design initiatives at AlUla.
"Our growing design initiatives reflect the ongoing development of AlUla as a hub for traditional design, arts, and innovation,” she said.

“These initiatives celebrate the region's cultural heritage, local materials, and natural history. The exhibited works represent the evolving aesthetics of design in AlUla, capturing the inspiration and continuous dialogue nurtured by our destination, embracing diverse cultures and artistic disciplines."

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Culture

Afro-Brazilian Carnival Celebrates Cultural Kinship in Lagos

The festival helps to keep their heritage alive and celebrate the city's Afro-Brazilian history. TOYIN ADEDOKUN / AFP
The festival helps to keep their heritage alive and celebrate the city's Afro-Brazilian history. TOYIN ADEDOKUN / AFP
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Afro-Brazilian Carnival Celebrates Cultural Kinship in Lagos

The festival helps to keep their heritage alive and celebrate the city's Afro-Brazilian history. TOYIN ADEDOKUN / AFP
The festival helps to keep their heritage alive and celebrate the city's Afro-Brazilian history. TOYIN ADEDOKUN / AFP

Thousands of young and old descendants of formerly enslaved people donned elaborate costumes Sunday to bring the rhythm, vibrancy and colors of Brazil's Rio Carnival to the streets of Lagos in Nigeria.
The festival, albeit on a smaller scale than that of its Brazilian model, helps to keep their heritage alive and celebrate the city's Afro-Brazilian history.

After Brazil abolished slavery, some of those who had been enslaved returned to west Africa, settling in several countries including Nigeria and Sierra Leone, AFP said.

They brought with them Latin American culture -- dance, food, religion and colors -- that lives on today in pockets of the megacity of Lagos.
At Sunday's Fanti Carnival, a stilt-walking woman in a green-and-yellow dress with a yellow fascinator on her head danced rhythmically to sounds of loud drums and trumpets, sometimes stealing a hug from a man also performing on stilts.

Just behind them, a group of young men in striking face masks were preparing for a "dragon dance" using long rubber dragons similar to those that feature in Chinese New Year celebrations.

"We want to keep (our heritage) alive, very colorful... we love colors," said retired fine art teacher Onabolu Abiola, 67, dressed in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag.

"During this period, we don't bother ourselves with the economic situation or whatever... everybody comes together to have fun," he added, breaking into an impromptu dance to traditional Nigerian Yoruba music.

'Story of hope'
"We are here to show culture, we are here to make history -- the celebration of culture is important," said 50-year-old Mayegun Musiliu as he walked with fellow performers. "This is how we sustain it."

Brazil was the last place in the Americas to abolish slavery when it formally ended the practice in 1888.

Many slaves were forced to adopt Portuguese names, and today in Nigeria, it is common to find people with Yoruba first names and Portuguese surnames.

One of them is Aduke Gomez, a 62-year-old lawyer and historian.

"The story of Afro-Brazilians is a story of tragedy... but it's a story of hope, it's a story of resilience," she said. Loud music blaring from speakers almost drowned out her words.

"Personally, I'm very proud to be an Afro-Brazilian descendent because when you think of the chances of how many people came back and when they came back -- they came back with nothing... and many of them worked and lived to become educated and were contributing positively."

The carnival, she added, "is not just a day, it's a tangible legacy of what my ancestors went through".

A little-known legacy
Another participant, renowned filmmaker and actress Joke Silva, 64, recalled how her parents always used to bring her to the Fanti festival as a child.

She said she now continued the tradition, bringing her children to the celebrations.
"There needs to be more interrogation on how the trauma of (slavery)... has been part of what we are today. But that is not to claim victimhood," she said.

The carnival represents a part of Nigeria's history that is not always well known -- though some are trying to change that.

Kelenchi Anabaraonye, 27, curated a history exhibition at the festival.

"I had friends who were named Pionero, Pereira, Da Silva, Gomez," said Anabaraonye.

"Back then I thought they were jesting with the names, because you have a Yoruba first name and why are your surnames foreign? I didn't know that there was some historical connection."