Yinka Ilori visits Ohio State

As part of the Visiting Artist Program sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori spent three days in early November with The Ohio State University’s Department of Design. He participated in a well-attended public conversation with department chair Fabienne Münch in the Wexner Center for the Arts’s film/video theater, and led a workshop on “the art of storytelling through chairs” with the first-year foundations students. During the latter, two-day event, students reclaimed old chairs, transforming them with vibrant paint and creative design into new objects that resonated with the Nigerian parables and folktales Ilori had shared with them. The transformed chairs were then exhibited on the Oval, where certificates were awarded in such categories as “weird and wild,” “courageous” and “jubilant and joyful.”

Afterward, Münch said she “was thrilled by the ingenuity, creativity, and passion demonstrated by our first-year students.” She added that “such initiatives confirm the indispensable role that hands-on activities play in the trial-and-error learning process for design students, even in the digital age.”

A graduate of London Metropolitan University with a BA in Furniture and Product Design, Ilori has exhibited his work worldwide through solo and group exhibitions, public commissions, and set designs. Ilori believes that “design can bring together communities and have a positive impact on society, evoking a sense of joy and optimism.”

Taking advantage of his time at Ohio State, the REBEL Sustainable Futures Lab in the Department of Design hosted the Design Research Society's Global Student Retail Design Fest during Ilori’s visit. He kicked off the event, addressing not only the Ohio State students on hand but also those attending virtually from South Africa, India, London, Copenhagen, Toronto, and Rio de Janeiro. 

Rebekah Matheny, associate professor of design at Ohio State and founding director of the REBEL Sustainable Futures Lab, described the Retail Design Fest as focused on creating a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future. “Yinka's ability to bring his work and message of joy, hope and inclusion to brands such as Nike, The North Face and Apple really resonated with the students and will hopefully inspire them to elevate their values and voice through design.”