ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609100029
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA
SOURCE: ANNETTE JOHN-HALL KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Denys Davis swore that if she saw one more piece of kente cloth, she was going to use it to strangle somebody.
Kente cloth. That's all she heard when she'd ask people about their concept of African design. Kente cloth. And masks.
But Davis knew African design was much more than that. She knew it back in the mid-1970s, when her vacationing grandmother would send her postcards from the African continent - rich, colorful images of textiles, jewelry and furniture. She still has them posted in her office today.
She knew it when she caught the King Tut exhibit during her college days at what was then Hampton Institute in Hampton, Va., and marveled at the ornate Egyptian tombs.
She knew it from the energetic African artwork that caught her eye in relatives' homes in her hometown of Newark, N.J.
And she knew that the African influence was everywhere - on everything from layettes and evening wear to wallpaper and china. But she didn't know exactly ``what'' it was.
So when Davis, 41, who directs Ikea's Design Service in the Plymouth Meeting, Pa. store near Philadelphia, teamed with partner Sharne Algotsson, 45, a designer who owns Inside Design, a product and design business, they set out to find the answer.
It's in ``The Spirit of African Design'' (Crown Publishers, $35), an informative, vividly photographed design book that explores the history, function and appeal of the African aesthetic as a decorating motif. It is expected to hit bookstores Wednesday.
African design, said Davis, is a base style, like French provincial or American traditional.
``For something to be a style, it has to have elements,'' Davis said. ``And African design has all the elements - furnitures, textiles, accessories, art and objects. It's not a trend. It's a style that is deep-rooted in tradition and continues to go in different directions.''
Davis' home, a 100-year-old Tudor that she shares with her husband, Tony, and sons Ahmad, 16, and Malik, 14, in Wynnefield, Pa., embodies the African aesthetic. Her decorative sense is creative and functional, dashed with whimsy. For instance, she liked the grain and the feel of the African photographs in a magazine so much that she ``xeroxed'' them, framed them, and grouped them on her dining-room wall. The glass doors in her bathroom medicine cabinet are covered with paper adorned with Egyptian queens - wrapping paper that she saved.
It all goes nicely with the finely crafted textiles and wood sculptures that she has collected from visits to Africa over the years.
Of her style, Davis said: ``I'm more eclectic. I like to create as I go. Sharne is more of a purist.''
An African American from West Philadelphia, Algotsson is married to a Swede, Jan Algotsson. The family, which includes Vanessa, 16, lived for three years in Sweden. Sharne Algotsson's stay there helped shape her design sense.
She describes the environment as Hansel-and-Gretel-like, with Swedes picking mushrooms and blueberries and the sun shining down through the moss trees as if it were an enchanted forest.
``I love Scandinavian design,'' she said. ``I loved that it's so closely tied to nature. It's very communal in terms of the collective good. Scandinavia and Africa are alike in that regard with the connection to nature.''
She loved Stockholm in the same way she loved Ghana, Togo and the Ivory Coast, where she visited while a student at Howard University.
``I love the look and feel of African design,'' she said. ``It's who I am.''
Algotsson's Victorian home is furnished in a comfortable mix of African and Scandinavian furniture made of natural woods. In the living room, intersecting wood and iron Masai spears form a unique centerpiece for the wall above the sofa. Vivid color - a rich, sun-splashed yellow on the walls and hand-painted African-inspired trim around her bay windows - along with natural-fiber floor coverings and gourds and baskets from Africa give the room an organic feel.
The authors' homes are among the interiors featured in the book's 200 photographs. The homes of others are prominently displayed and reflect the versatility of the style.
The book also testifies to the design's universal appeal: Many of the homes displayed are not owned by African Americans. Roger Prigent, a collector and owner of Malmaison Antiques in New York, has a living room done in a more French-provincial style accented by Senufo chairs and West African sculpture - demonstrating the versatility of the style.
``If you are a pastel person and you want to do African style, you can do the North African or Moroccan motif,'' Algotsson said. ``If you like formal furniture, maybe you can look around for the finer textiles (as accessories) like the hand-woven cloths that you can put around pillows.
``We wanted to show how flexible the design is. Africa is four times the size of the United States, with over 50 countries. Once we stopped looking at it in a stereotypical way, the book came together.''
Complete with a bibliography, index and design-book resource list, ``The Spirit of African Design'' addresses the origin and function of African objects, such as stools, sculptures and woven cloths, and explains their cultural, social and ritual significance.
It tells about the origin of the style, which is distinguishable by region. For example, colorful ceramics, tile work and wrought iron are found in Moroccan markets, while soapstone objects and figures are plentiful in Kenya.
The book even deals with outdoor spaces, explaining which plants and flowers are indigenous to the continent, such as African irises, African violets and black-eyed susans.
And what of kente cloth, that ubiquitous fabric that has been cheapened by American imitations?
In the chapter on textile tradition, kente is lauded as a regal cloth worn by kings and queens; as a ceremonial, traditional fabric that originated with the Fante people of Ghana; as a handwoven textile whose patterns have religious, political and financial significance.
``We wanted to show that African design is a real design style,'' Davis said. ``We wanted to legitimize it - call it what is. We wanted people to know what the elements were and appreciate them.''
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Philadelphia designers Sharne Algotsson and Denys Danisby CNBhave written "The Spirit of African Design." The authors show
African design goes far beyond kente cloth. Their book is expected
to hit bookstores Wednesday. color.