How Abidjan's Young Designers Workshop is helping shape a new generation of Côte d'Ivoire creatives

Surveying today’s design landscape, attention tends to gravitate toward established hubs. Cities like Milan, Copenhagen and Paris have forged distinct design identities and have major annual fairs that draw global attention. Yet compelling work is emerging far beyond these centres, often unnoticed by the international spotlight. Across the world, local scenes are being sustained by passionate figures who foster creativity through exhibitions, collaborations with artisans and mentorship of the next generation.

We zero in on three of these metropolises – Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Beirut, Lebanon; and Taipei, Taiwan – to spotlight the designers and curators who are shaping these vibrant new design communities

Meet Abidjan’s creative leaders of the future

In the West African creative milieu, much attention has been paid to international hubs such as Lagos and Dakar. Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, was long regarded merely as a business city, home to collectors and patrons rather than designers and artists. But in recent years, an artistic renaissance has been taking root here. ‘There’s a creative energy,’ says Jean Servais Somian, an Abidjan designer known for his sculptural furniture carved by local craftspeople. He’s also the founder of the Young Designers Workshop, a mentorship programme aimed at nurturing young talent in this fast-evolving city.

‘In the past few years, as the economy recovered from a decade-long crisis, the artistic scene began to demand visibility,’ says Somian. ‘A new dynamic emerged between galleries and buyers, leading to a vibrant and diverse artistic landscape that includes both emerging and established artists.’ The energy was potent enough to draw Somian back from Europe, where he had been living and working. ‘I needed to go back to my country,’ he says. ‘To bring my expertise and develop the knowledge of design in Côte d’Ivoire at a time when it was still unknown. I also wanted to find a design community here, to show the world what we had to offer.’

He recognised that as other fields such as art and fashion were exploding in Abidjan, the environment was ripe to nurture a fledgling design scene, which led to the founding of the Young Designers Workshop. ‘I was approached by young designers who wanted to study with me, even though there are schools,’ says Somian. ‘But the available programmes did not meet their expectations or the needs of the market. I saw an opportunity to prepare the next generation.’

He also wanted to create a bridge between contemporary designers and Côte d’Ivoire’s highly skilled craftspeople. The region is known as a heartland of fine artisanship, from woodworking and weaving to pottery and fine metalwork. Craft is so integral to the country’s identity and economy that, in 2022, the government announced the creation of 13 craft centres across the country.

Applicants to the Young Designers Workshop begin with the goal of realising a single project or small collection. ‘We develop projects from idea to production,’ says Somian. In the past, this has included a lamp made out of recycled bottle lids by Lisa Colombe Adjobi, a metal and wood cabinet by Gbane Bacary, and hand-carved wooden table and stools by Paul Moustapha Ledron.

This year’s cohort – designers Romarice N’Goran, Inès Bally, Suame Ekra, Gnagne Sebime, Samaritain-César Dago, Amadou Kobenan Koffi, Guy-Serge Kouadio, Philippe Bodou and Sebime Agnéroh Lath – are currently developing their projects, which will then be displayed at Abidjan’s Donwahi Foundation. And though Somian laments the lack of dedicated galleries or fairs in the city, international institutions have begun to take notice. In 2023, he brought several of the young designers to Paris to exhibit, where they represented the emerging Abidjan creative scene to a global – and increasingly curious – audience.