Originally published on orature.africa
In this article, Oriiz U. Onuwaje argues that design has always been more than decoration—it is a technology of power, memory, and identity. From the royal ivory of sixteenth-century Benin to today’s glass and silicon, designers have shaped materials to make authority visible, organise meaning, and connect past to present.
Focusing on the iconic Queen Idia ivory masks of the Benin Kingdom, the piece reveals how these objects were not merely ceremonial but deeply embedded in governance and political strategy. Five centuries later, the same design intelligence still guides modern innovation, proving that time changes materials, but not the thinking behind them.
