Handicrafts in Cameroon

Initiated by the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain, this project aimed at developing cultural exchanges by sending designers to meet the African continent and its craftsmen. This exchange between two cultures of the object, different but complementary, represents a great challenge for the creation of unique artifacts, outcome of the alchemy between traditional skills and the will to innovate in design methods.

Our one month project was set up in the Menoua region in Cameroon. The aim of the project was born first from an observation: today, the handicraft is not diversified and struggles to survive in the face of industrial production. Indeed, many objects from African crafts have lost their meaning because they are not used anymore in local life and are only created for the tourist trade. Therefore we went to meet the artisans of the town of Dschang and surrounding villages, with the aim to experiment new methods and develop design tools to diversify their production in the long term.