Welcome to the Institute of Black Imagination podcast, beaming in conversations from the galaxy of Black genius. I'm your host, Dario, and today, we have the pleasure of chatting with Nifemi Marcus-Bello, a visionary design director and founder of Nmbello Studio. Renowned for his community-centric and ethnographically-conscious design ethos, Nifemi’s practice exemplifies how obstacles are merely opportunities in disguise.

In this conversation, we explore the journey of a designer deeply rooted in his Nigerian upbringing. Nifemi shares how he overcame societal pressures that attempted to sway him from his creative path, how reimagining local materials and processes expanded his own design language, and we even get into blood memory and ancestral wisdom. Yeah, it’s one of those episodes.

Connect with us on Twitter and Instagram @blackimagination, subscribe to our newsletter for updates, and support the show by clicking this support link. and explore more content on blackimagination.com. Now, beaming in from across the Atlantic, design director and industrial designer, Nifemi Marcus-Bello.

Key Links

nmbello Studio - is a design studio currently based in Lagos, Nigeria. Our design ethos is rooted in empathy.

Ethnographic Museum of Trocadero - first anthropological museum in Paris

Kwali - acts as a portable shop, weaving through Lagos traffic

Kerry James Marshall- American artist

Salone del Mobile Milano -The global benchmark event for the furnishing and design sector.

Anna Karnick - Design Miami Curator 2023

Tavares Strachan - a Bahamian-born conceptual artist

Tahir Carl Karmali - Artist

Samuel Ross - Fashion designer

What to Read

Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design - Cees W. de Jong (Editor)

E95. Designing In Place. with Nifemi Marcus-Bello