Padouk Design

All things design, with a focus on Africa and the Middle East

[padoukdesign]

Only in California- the patent-child 🚗! #car #jeep #jeeplife #onlyincalifornia #sanfranciscobayarea #cortemadera #parked #automobile #minime (at California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXCGMddhq5H/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Kara Walker exhibition in Frankfurt - if anyone gets a chance to see it, run, don’t walk! It’s at the Schirn Kunsthalle. I don’t know if it’s coming to the USA - but it should. I didn’t dare post some of the more violent and/or sexual images. #art #kunst #negritude #slavery #americanhistory https://www.schirn.de/en/exhibitions/2021/kara_walker/ #pain #racism #racisthistory #america (at SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVqKj4ALGU7/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Today’s adventure: foraging. There is so much wild fennel growing… well, wild. I looked it up and at first was disappointed that the bulb was not good to eat. However… I discovered that fennel pollen is something very sought after! Today I went out and picked some yellow flowers, staying away from the bees 🐝 (has anyone tasted fennel honey? I don’t think I have) and this little #ladybug 🐞 dame. I saved the blooms in a bag, but as I discovered the hard way, ants 🐜 live the pollen too, so I didn’t drag my feet and dusted the flowers over a piece of parchment paper, and in photo 2 you can see my “harvest.” Now to decide how to use it! #california #fennel #wildfennel #foraging #creek #marincounty #sfbayarea #growingwild #nature #gourmetfood (at Larkspur, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQz0OsPrzQK/?utm_medium=tumblr

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In plant news, this interesting flower came very, very slowly out of a leek root I planted last year. The yellow brown-eyed Betty (?) is from a package of wildflower seeds and the blooms keep on coming! We’ve been using #wastewater to keep the planters happy. #nature #plants #flowers #sfbayarea #leekflower #daisy #drought (at San Francisco Bay Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQXEtt7hflV/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Local business day yesterday! I was very happy to see the super cute and affordable @bayclaydesigns earrings in a display case at @secessionsf . Secession Design is finally open again, “for real.” I picked up the cards I had ordered months ago from @theaestheticunion - Daniel, thank you for bringing them down, as I had a sleeping toddler in the car! Said toddler is the most recent SF customer 😎😉. Last image is the design on one of the t-shirts sold at @secessionsf. #happiness #smallbusiness #design #art #greetingcards #artisans #designers #sanfrancisco #sfbayarea #california #madeinusa #madelocal #creative #oakland (at San Francisco, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRt_uxBhNq/?utm_medium=tumblr

[padoukdesign]

A day in the life of a white heron looking for food 🦅💦🐋 #nature #birds #birding #birdwatching #heron #waterbirds #fishing #sanrafael #california #lochlomond #marina #sfbayarea (at Loch Lomond Yacht Club Inc) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi6DHZBMvs/?utm_medium=tumblr

[padoukdesign]

Red roses, red house. #homesofinstagram #sanfrancisco #redhouse #home #color #noevalley #neighborhood #springtime #redroses (at San Francisco, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/COvRP3vht6Q/?igshid=tyf56mpjt6q1

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A taste of springtime in the “old country.” #greenalmonds #samiramissanfrancisco #april #middleeast #fresh #california Cc @hananrasheed @emiraulita (at San Francisco, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNTYROjBFC7/?igshid=1uwcatrd83jfv

[padoukdesign]

Being a tourist... in Sonoma. #vineyard #vines #history #california #sonoma #winecountry #charm (at Sonoma, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOMXTQhuPY/?igshid=1l5rk4onwuzoc

[padoukdesign]

Beauty in arid settings. #color #fuchsia #flower #spring #garden #pink #popofcolor #californiacoast #westcoast (at Larkspur, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMP5ppZBmpe/?igshid=ngevtz17qqgl

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Last topic for Black History Month 2021: our last abode. Funerals are one of the most, if not the most, important life rituals and events among many ethnic groups in Cameroon. It’s usually a multi-day event, and often part of the road will be taken out of commission for a few days, to accommodate seating in front of the deceased family home. Sometimes, there will be an event up to 10 years after a person’s death, as the children will save up their money to hold a wonderful celebration. Our last abode is the tomb… The last chapter of The African Dwelling from Traditional to Western Style Homes covers the topic of funeral traditions and tomb architecture. Photos: burial of a well-known person in Douala; sidewalk setup for a wake; Bamileke dancer headed to an event. #architecture #africa #africanarchitecture #afritecture #anthropology #africansociety #africanhistory #worldhistory #book #culture #africanculture #evolutionofhousing #dwellings #dwell #tradition #traditional #fromtraditionaltowestern #evolving #housing #cameroon #douala #blackhistorymonth2021 #bamileke #lifeevents #ourlastabode https://www.instagram.com/p/CLsX39mhXvO/?igshid=815ke4fs9y3u

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#imbolombue #cameroon #africa #colonialism #protectorate #history #culture #language #sawa #novel #book @randomhouse https://www.instagram.com/p/CLesP99BgbR/?igshid=8pswjtqkh0lx

[padoukdesign]

Theme 7 - #blackhistory Communication: Long before telephones existed in Africa, there was the slit drum. The slit drum, made from a hollowed out tree trunk, was used as a type of telegram between villages in the Sawa (coastal) area of #Cameroon. The name “Epeye,” for example, became “Koloto” on the Duala slit drum, called an “elimbi.” The photo shown is of a slit drum used for musical accompaniment during a local Chief’s intronization at a Bamileke celebration in a Douala neighborhood. (Douala is a commercial port city, and many western Cameroonians emigrated there.) For Black History Month, loosely adapted from the book "The African Dwelling from Traditional to Western Style Homes (by Epee Ellong with Diane Chehab, Foreword by Jack Travis; @mcfpub ). #architecture #africa #africanarchitecture #afritecture #anthropology #africansociety #africanhistory #worldhistory #book #culture #africanculture #evolutionofhousing #dwellings #dwell #tradition #fromtraditionaltowestern #communications #music #festivity #celebration #douala #bamileke https://www.instagram.com/p/CLQF9BNBMrh/?igshid=1pebg4ymeq799

[padoukdesign]

In honor of Black History Month, I am presenting themes from the book "The African Dwelling from Traditional to Western Style Homes (by Epee Ellong with Diane Chehab, Foreword by Jack Travis; @mcfpub ). Theme 6: The legacy of colonialism. Who knows where Africa would be if the continent had never been colonized? The only idea we can get is from Ethiopia, which was arguably the only area never officially colonized, although it was occupied by Italy for a few years. One thing we can be sure of: whichever countries would have been created, would have very different borders than what we currently have, many of these borders being the results of the “scramble for Africa” that was formalized by the Berlin Conference in 1884/1885. Ethnic groups were split in two or even three, and borders were drawn with a ruler. #architecture #africa #africanarchitecture #afritecture #anthropology #africansociety #africanhistory #worldhistory #book #culture #africanculture #evolutionofhousing #dwellings #dwell #tradition #traditional #fromtraditionaltowestern #evolving #housing #cameroon #douala #mcfarland #history #blackhistorymonth2021 #Bismarck #Berlinconference #colonization #colonialism https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCl9WiBPq8/?igshid=flb94ygl9l3n

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In other African diaspora related news, I made my first cake from Jenne Claiborne’s vegan cookbook Sweet Potato Soup: strawberry shortcake. I never got around to the coconut milk cream but the shortcake was so moist: made with coconut milk and whole wheat flour. I had frozen some farmers market strawberries, it was perfect. #blackchefs #vegan #cookbook #baking #cake #blackhistorymonth #shortbread #strawberries @jenneclaiborne https://www.instagram.com/p/CLAWGwsh9U_/?igshid=11jrr5l20xn4l

[padoukdesign]

In honor of Black History Month, today’s theme from the book "The African Dwelling from Traditional to Western Style Homes (by Epee Ellong with Diane Chehab, Foreword by Jack Travis; McFarland) is: 5. Ancestry - In Duala tradition, every person should know at least eleven of her/his ancestors, on both maternal and paternal sides, and not marry anyone with an overlap in the last seven generations! Most often, Dualas marry someone from the next village rather than from their own group (Deido, Akwa, or Bell). Your genealogy was like an ID card. For more on this theme, and others: the book is available from your local bookseller, from the @mcfpub site, Barnes & Noble Nook, Walmart, or Amazon. #architecture #africa #africanarchitecture #anthropology #africansociety #africanhistory #worldhistory #book #culture #africanculture #evolutionofhousing #dwellings #dwell #tradition #housing #cameroon #douala #mcfarland #blackhistorymonth2021 #epeeellong #family #society #intergenerational #polygamy #blackhistory #marriage #genealogy #bloodline https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6zfDbBBob/?igshid=1vy9yq86w7ybj

[padoukdesign]

Honoring Black History Month, I am presenting themes from the book "The African Dwelling from Traditional to Western Style Homes (by Epee Ellong with Diane Chehab, Foreword by Jack Travis; McFarland). 4. Kitchen and cooking One of our basic needs is food, and humankind has been cooking since prehistory. The African kitchen has much evolved in the past 100 years. Especially in rural areas, people still have traditional kitchens (pictured). To know more about how kitchens (and the art of cooking) have evolved in Africa, pick up a copy of the book, available from your local bookseller, from the @mcfarlandpub site, Barnes & Noble Nook, Walmart, or Amazon. #architecture #africa #africanarchitecture #afritecture #anthropology #africansociety #africanhistory #worldhistory #book #culture #africanculture #evolutionofhousing #dwellings #dwell #tradition #traditional #fromtraditionaltowestern #evolving #housing #cameroon #douala #mcfarland #blackhistorymonth2021 #epeeellong #society #blackhistory #cooking #kitchen #household @bookpassage https://www.instagram.com/p/CKzKuJ6Bur4/?igshid=8cyvolcljma7