African American designer Ini Archibong crosses cultural lines. To realize his design ideas, Archibong relies on the skills of European master craftsmen.
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00:00Amy Archibong is a successful African-American designer who creates works for the luxury
00:06design market.
00:08But how do old European traditions help him?
00:11There's no way for me to create anything that I make without the help of masters.
00:17For me to learn what they have been taught since they were born, which has been passed
00:22down from generations, that now gets to create my visions, it would take me more than a lifetime.
00:29If I was just focused on that one craft, right?
00:33He relies on a large team, including traditional craftsmen, to help him transform his sketches
00:38into works of art, such as with these glass masks.
00:43Technical coordinator Dario Stellin, seen on the right, and gallery owner Pavlo Stokleff
00:48assist him in bringing the pieces to the clients or museums.
00:53So this set of masks are called the Ibeji, and the Ibeji are, I don't want to get it
01:01inaccurate, but it's part of the Yoruba religion and mythology, and the Ibeji are the twins.
01:09So these are a set of twin masks that were inspired by the collector who has twins in
01:17their family.
01:19Eni Archibong has spent the last seven years traveling to the Italian island of Murano
01:23near Venice to create his works.
01:26Its centuries-long tradition of glassmaking is essential to his current projects.
01:31He has exclusive access to the glassmaking factories where he chooses the materials for
01:36his upcoming projects.
01:38He's always on the lookout for artistry in the objects he uses.
01:42Authenticity, precision craftsmanship, and technical expertise are key to his designs.
01:48I think one thing that's core to my design philosophy is that the things that I create
01:58have an energy to them, right?
02:00There's the stories that's behind them, but then there's also the energy that goes into
02:05the shapes, the colors, and everything else.
02:10In a sense, it's imperative to be working with masters of that material to be able to
02:15translate the intangible things.
02:19This is the piece that launched his career.
02:22A lady's wristwatch he designed in 2019 for the French luxury goods company Hermes.
02:28It came about after he earned his master's degree at the École Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne
02:33in Switzerland.
02:36That was very serendipitous.
02:40I graduated from Écale in Lausanne, and Écale has a great relationship with Hermes, so I
02:47was able to get the email of the creative director of the Hermes watch group, Lamont
02:53Hermes, and we met for a coffee, and the rest is history.
02:59Since then, Archibong has expanded into luxury goods for the home.
03:03Although for retail sales, they are exclusive, with prices out of reach for most people.
03:09But each piece reflects his international experience, extending from the U.S. to Asia
03:13and Africa, and now to Europe.
03:16I'd never seen this level of Murano.
03:18I don't know how to explain it, but it's the type of thing where if you're a tourist and
03:23you come to Murano, you're going to see the outside layer.
03:27And then it's like peeling away an onion, and then the next year, you're going to see
03:32something else.
03:33You stick around long enough, you'll see something else.
03:36I didn't get into the engraving until we started doing that two years ago, so I would say that's
03:42the evolution.
03:43It's that the more time spent here, the more I learn, and the more I can experiment.
03:49Archibong was born to Nigerian parents and grew up near Los Angeles, California.
03:54He's now based in Switzerland, where he has a small daughter.
03:58So how much of his African heritage has influenced him as a designer?
04:01It's funny, because I don't think of it as an influence, because it's just what I am.
04:08So everything that I saw from the time I was born, everything that I was taught by my parents,
04:14the things that aesthetically dazzled me as a kid, those things, those are all embedded
04:21in me so deep that it's hard to separate any of those things from who I am.
04:27So what does the future hold for him?
04:29I'm not excited about anything.
04:32Is that the end?
04:35The only thing that I think about in the future is my daughter's wedding.
04:38I hope it's not too expensive.
04:41Archibong's artistry transcends borders, combining tradition with innovation to create timeless
04:46works.