I took these pics while the museum was closed and before the doors opened to 🔸Yinka Ilori: PARABLES FOR HAPPINESS 🔸 @designmuseum, the display we had the pleasure to inaugurate today. I commissioned it because it was important to unpack the ingredients of a diasporic visual language within the heart of the museum, and celebrate Ilori’s unique mix of cultural influences, to coincide with London Design Festival 2022. Curating it was a collaborative effort that involved unpicking the elements of the designer’s vibrant aesthetic, which draws on a range of references that came together in the north London diaspora community where he grew up. It places his work, such as his colourful billboard graphics, beside the amazing Nigerian textiles from which he draws influence. Architectural projects like his Laundrette of Dreams, built from over 200,000 Lego bricks, are shown alongside a maquette by the artist Bodys Isek Kingelez, demonstrating the utopian potential of architecture, which resonates so beautifully in Ilori’s work 🏩 Visitors will see objects ranging from artworks, photographs and chairs, to textiles, books and personal possessions. Seen together, they offer a glimpse into the power of design to absorb cultural influences and be a vessel for the expression London’s rich mix of identities. The title came from observing the Nigerian parables Ilori shares on social media and thinking about how they linked with themes of joy and happiness in his work. This is a space that is freely accessible to all; and I hope when people enter the museum, they sense at least a smidge of the joy. Come pay us a visit and let me know. 💛 Thank you @yinka_ilori for sharing your story for us to tell @designmuseum Open from now till June 2023 🗓 With thanks to dream team Esme Hawes, Lara Chapman, Dele Awoyemi, Rebecca Gremmo, Jessica Taylor and Myrto Kozaki. #designmuseum #exhibition #parablesforhappiness #design #architecture #joy #colour #pattern #ldf