(Above image: Pieces featured above are King Houndekpinkou's Jumbo Bubble Tea Doll (far right) created in 2024 and Zizipho Poswa's Mam'uNoSekshin (center) created in 2023. Image courtesy of MoAD)
Design has the power to shape lives and tell stories. What story does Black design tell? One of resilience, joy, nuance, and beauty. These themes are on full display at the Museum of the African Diaspora’s (MoAD) first-ever design exhibit, "Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors and Radical Black Joy," which runs through early March. Curated by Key Jo Lee, the museum’s chief of curatorial affairs and public programs, the exhibition explores Black spaces in a literal and metaphorical sense, examining the beauty of Black culture and design through a lens of rest and joy.