Design Reparations | Design meets Indigenous

Our circles

Cultural Knowledge Revival Program

Join the team documenting Samia Indigenous knowledge and how it can guide sustainable practices against climate change.

Regeneration Festival

A festival in Busia county to center traditional knowledge on climate indicators, sustainable farming, and cultural history.

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Bring Gaza Home

Bring Gaza Home advocates for the right of Palestinians to return to their homes.

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Nairobi Design Week

Design Reparations is participating in Nairobi Design Week with a workshop in Busia, an exhibition and a discussion panel.

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Showcase the artistic and design culture of the Bafut community

Working with the Bafut community to give visibility and space for the local creative talent and how it is connected to the ancestral wisdom of the Bafut people.

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How can design heal, repair and restore rather than extract and exploit?
Design Reparations is about nurturing relationships of understanding, care and reciprocity between the design community and the traditional, indigenous communities around the world,for ecological and just outcomes in design and beyond.

Join our crowdfunding and get invited to one Design Reparations session!

Donate now!

Design Reparations is participating in Dutch Design Week, 22 and 25 October, Eindhoven.

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Design as a way to communicate with the ancestors

On January 10th, 2025, Design Reparations partnered with Princess Abumbi Prudence from the Bafut Community in Cameroon.

Known for championing the empowerment of youth and women, she is a vocal advocate for community-driven progress. Her deep connection to the Bafut community and her visionary approach to nurturing future generations will guide us in this conversation.

We discussed about Bafut practices in design, dance and community, embracing collaboration grounded in equity, respect, and ancestral wisdom.

News, reflections and invitations

"Feminism is for everybody," as bell hooks reminded us. It’s not just about women’s rights (which it's enough to join forces)—it’s about challenging all systems of domination, specially sexism.

This past weeks, I’ve been reflecting while reading Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design (edited by Alison Place).

The book has bring new eyes to how design often reinforces oppressive structures (specially sexism in this case) without me even realizing it.

"Design is often touted as an intervention for improving or optimizing our lives, which obscures its role in reinforcing deeply embedded power structures that oppress people, exploit labor, and extract resources." — Alison Place

As a black, cisgender and heterosexual designer, I’ve been examining my own blind spots. This book is making me realize how much more we all could be doing to challenge systemic inequities in our field.

Here a few examples:
• Challenge hetero-patriarchal norms in the typography industry
• Stand in allyship with female and non-binary colleagues advocating for equal pay
• Learn about and celebrate the achievements of non-binary designers

"To live a feminist life is to make everything into something questionable." — Sara Ahmed

I’d love to hear from you:
• How do you bring feminist principles into your design practice?
• What inequities have you become more aware of in our field?
• Can you name a few female and non-binary designers that we should know more about their work and life?

Written by @tiago.paes.vilasboas co-founder of Design Reparations

#FeministDesign #inclusivedesign

ANCESTRAL WISDOM
FROM KENYA

"I remember a time when the land was lush with trees and wildlife. Winds once guided their lives: Agundu, the wind from the north, and Asego, from the south, both brought rain and were welcomed by the farmers. Ekhoma, the wind from the east, was a warning of drought, while Vuyanja, from the west, would spark Agundu, signalling the start of the rainy season.
These winds were as much a part of daily life as the rising and setting of the sun, and they guided the community through the seasons with an understanding that has been all but lost today."

Mzee Obwogo

#designreparations #responsibledesign #indigenousknowledge #ancestralwisdom #rainmakers

For registration see the link in our bio.
Save the date 5th of June.

“Join Mulika Afrika’s founder Paul Ole Leitura (Maasai community leader), and the Design Reparations for:

🔸The colonial and exploitative traps in creating movements —and how to dismantle them in practice
🔸 Maasai design legacies as living systems of sustainability, artistry & Community
🔸 What reparations look like when Indigenous knowledge leads the process.”

What we call Design reveals a lot about the knowledge systems that we have internalized.

Many people around the whole world still learn a very limited definition of what design is and what instead is called 'folklore', 'craft' or other.

Our work at Design Reparations challenges the very definition of design and decolonize its boundaries, reclaims its power and welcomes diverse origination stories, references and ideas of good.

What do you think? What is design in this selection?

#decolonizedesign #designreparations #indigenousknowledge #responsibledesign

Chair Verner Pantons (photo Holger Ellgaard), African stool (photos by Ann Porteus), Louis Vuitton pattern, Woven Wall (Petr Kratochvil) , apple.com, LINGsCARS.com

@the_africanfuturist Lorna Okeng shares an important perspective on why this is the right time to document African knowledge.

African elders still hold so much traditional knowledge that the modern way of living has been actively trying to erase. We should not waste the opportunity to document and pass this knowledge over.

What do you think? How are you collecting the knowledge of your elders?

#decolonizing #designreparations #decolonizingdesign #ancestralsknowledge

Do not miss @wa.vinya contribution to what decolonizing means to her. @the_vinya__ is her wonderful initiative that brings decolonization, system thinking and traditional craft together in beautiful weaving.

The contribution was recorded during our time at Nairobi Design Week where we engaged participants in sharing their perspectives about decolonization and connection with ancestral knowledge.

What does Decolonizing mean to you?

#designreparations #indigenousknowledge #ancestralwisdom #decolonizedesign #sustainablefutures

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@designreparations

Pictures of recent projects from our partners

COMMITTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND JUST FUTURES

Thank you!

Special thanks to the contributors of our crowdfunding campaign. Special shout out to Enrico and Maria, Micha Commeren with Create New, Amber Stieber and Geraldine Moodley and Het Cultuurfonds.

Our circles

Cultural Knowledge Revival Program

Regeneration Festival

Bring Gaza Home

Nairobi Design Week

Showcase the artistic and design culture of the Bafut community

Join our crowdfunding and get invited to one Design Reparations session!

Design Reparations is participating in Dutch Design Week, 22 and 25 October, Eindhoven.

Design as a way to communicate with the ancestors

News, reflections and invitations

Our Journey Post Nairobi Design Week

The Art of Traditional Craft: How Mzee Edward’s Skills Can Inspire Modern Designers.

The power of intergenerational conversations

Follow us on Instagram

Pictures of recent projects from our partners

COMMITTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND JUST FUTURES

Thank you!

Projects

Our circles

Cultural Knowledge Revival Program

Regeneration Festival

Bring Gaza Home

Nairobi Design Week

Showcase the artistic and design culture of the Bafut community

Join our crowdfunding and get invited to one Design Reparations session!

Design Reparations is participating in Dutch Design Week, 22 and 25 October, Eindhoven.

Design as a way to communicate with the ancestors

News, reflections and invitations

Our Journey Post Nairobi Design Week

The Art of Traditional Craft: How Mzee Edward’s Skills Can Inspire Modern Designers.

The power of intergenerational conversations

​

Follow us on Instagram

Pictures of recent projects from our partners

COMMITTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND JUST FUTURES

Thank you!

Projects