AFTER a hiatus for renovations, the Museum of African Design (MOAD) in Maboneng, Johannesburg, opened with an exhibition that unites the far north of the continent with us here in the south. The gallery’s latest exhibition D’Zair Art & Craft A Johannesburg brings together work from 13 contemporary Algerian designers in a fascinating showcase of how geography, politics and history influence aesthetics.Algeria’s huge oil and gas reserves, as well as its close proximity to Europe, led to the country suffering years of intensive French colonialism followed by a vicious civil war for independence, in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. More recently, the country has faced a deepening economic crisis while their ailing president becomes increasingly absent, raising concerns about who is leading the country.“Algeria is like an island,” says Amina Zoubir — artist and daughter of the curator Hellal Zoubir — speaking about how the culture of design has evolved in that coun...
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