“Postcards” is the recent project of architect turned illustrator Maxwell Mutanda. The series was inspired by Mutanda’s younger brother. He wanted to teach his little brother about Africa. Here are is some snippets from his interview with Design Indaba.
“These illustrations began as a correspondence with my 10-year-old half-brother Liam, who lives in Barcelona with his mother. For him Africa is as mysterious as the moon. Our daily lives and built environment may very well be fantasy to him. However he has a curious, adventurous mind. After watching Spielberg’s Temple of Doom, he soon fashioned a whip from a jump rope and was affecting the lifestyle of Indiana himself. Hopefully these short stories will bring him and others closer to Africa.”
“Our tales of the so-called Dark Continent also employ some of its rich oral history, which includes (but is not limited to) water spirits, vengeful ancestors and shape-shifting animals – elements of magical realism and Afrofuturism intended to appeal to Liam’s sense of wonder and adventure.”
