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Africa Design Week is scheduled to run at London’s Crafts Council from July 8 to 10, 2027. Founder Bilen Zeremariam says the event will feature furniture, art, craft, installations and conversations, while connecting creative professionals with new audiences and commercial opportunities. Further programme and participant details have not yet been announced in the source report.
Africa Design Week is scheduled to take place at London’s Crafts Council from July 8 to 10, 2027, creating a new platform for designers, artists and makers from Africa and its diaspora. Founder Bilen Zeremariam, editor-in-chief of OLISE Magazine, says the three-day event will combine exhibitions and cultural programming with opportunities for professional connections.
Zeremariam told Livingetc that the event is intended to do more than display finished work. Its stated aim is to connect designers, artists, makers and creative entrepreneurs with audiences, collaborators and commercial opportunities in the international design industry. She said London was a natural place to start, pointing to the city’s cultural diversity and connections with Africa, as well as her own ties to London, where she grew up and studied at University of the Arts London.
The planned programme includes collectible furniture, contemporary art, craftsmanship and immersive installations, alongside conversations and cultural experiences. Zeremariam said the schedule is also expected to provide opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange among creative professionals, brands, industry leaders and visitors. The report does not identify participating designers or give a day-by-day programme.
The announcement comes from Zeremariam, who brings a background in interior design and publishing to the project. Livingetc describes her as having about 20 years of experience delivering residential and commercial projects. Through OLISE Magazine and Africa Design Week, she says she wants to increase the visibility of emerging and established talent and create opportunities for creative voices that have been underrepresented in the wider industry.
A Platform Beyond the Exhibition
The event’s significance will depend not only on what is displayed but on whether it can support sustained visibility, collaboration and commercial access for the people who make the work. Zeremariam has described those connections as central to the project, making professional exchange a stated objective alongside public-facing exhibitions.
For visitors interested in interiors, the programme may offer ways to encounter designers and craft traditions that are less visible in mainstream design coverage. That is a potential benefit, not a confirmed outcome: the report provides no attendance targets, sales plans or measures for evaluating the event’s impact. Its framing also matters. Zeremariam argues that African design should not be treated as one uniform style, and says the event aims to reflect the continent’s range of creative practices and the work of its diaspora.
For the design industry, the London venue could bring creative practitioners and international audiences into the same space. Whether that leads to lasting partnerships or wider representation beyond the three days remains to be seen.
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Why London, and Why Now
Africa Design Week joins London’s existing design-festival landscape, but the report presents it as a dedicated platform focused on creative work from Africa and its diaspora. Zeremariam told Livingetc she saw a gap between the talent she had encountered through her work in design and publishing and the visibility and access to opportunities available to that talent in the wider international industry.
The announcement also sits within a broader discussion about how design histories and influences are represented. The Livingetc report describes growing interest in moving beyond Eurocentric accounts of design, while distinguishing that effort from approaches that detach styles from their origins or treat cultural influences as passing trends. Zeremariam’s stated position is that the event should present the diversity of African creative work rather than suggest there is a single definition of it.
Her longer-term ambition extends beyond the London edition. She told the publication that the organisers hope to build an international platform linking Africa with audiences elsewhere. That is an aspiration; the report confirms only the planned London dates and venue.
“Africa Design Week was born from a desire to create a dedicated international platform that celebrates the extraordinary creativity, talent and innovation emerging from Africa and its diaspora.”
— Bilen Zeremariam, founder of Africa Design Week, speaking to Livingetc
Programme Details Still Pending
The report confirms the dates and venue, but does not list exhibitors, speakers, ticket prices, visitor access arrangements or the schedule for each day. It is also unclear whether the planned programme will include sales of work, how participants will be selected, or what measures will be used to assess the event’s stated goals around visibility and commercial opportunity.
The planned international reach is an ambition rather than a confirmed expansion. No future cities, dates or partnerships are named in the report. The event’s eventual effect on representation in the wider design industry cannot be established before it takes place.
Further Event Details to Come
The next practical milestones are the release of the participant list, programme and visitor information for the July 2027 event. The source report does not provide a date for those announcements or say when tickets will go on sale. Readers interested in attending should look for updates from Africa Design Week and the Crafts Council as the event approaches.
After the London edition, any evidence of follow-on events, partnerships or opportunities for participating creatives will help show whether the organisers’ wider international ambition is taking shape. For now, the confirmed development is a three-day London event with a stated focus on showcasing creative work and building connections.
Key Questions
When and where will Africa Design Week take place?
It is scheduled for July 8–10, 2027, at the Crafts Council in London, according to the Livingetc report.
What is Africa Design Week expected to feature?
Founder Bilen Zeremariam told Livingetc that the programme is expected to include collectible furniture, contemporary art, craftsmanship, immersive installations, conversations and cultural experiences. A detailed schedule has not been provided in the report.
Who is organising the event?
Bilen Zeremariam, editor-in-chief of OLISE Magazine, founded Africa Design Week. She has worked in interior design and publishing, according to the report.
Are exhibitors and ticket details available?
The source report does not name exhibitors or provide ticket prices, sales dates or visitor arrangements. Those details remain unconfirmed in the material available.
Will Africa Design Week take place outside London?
Zeremariam said the organisers envision an international platform, but the report confirms only the London event. It names no additional locations or dates.
Source: livingetc.com
