Material Selveges






“Indeed, our ancestors were material scientists” - Akinwumi Ogundiran


  1. Air. Atmospheric Dynamics
  2. Sound. Acoustical Structuring
  3. Mass. Graviceptive Force
  4. Smoke. Aerosol Transience
  5. Scent. Olfactory Ecology
  6. Time. Processual Temporality
  7. Temperature. Thermo-affective Fields
  8. Soil. Earthen Foundations
  9. Glass. Silicate Transparency
  10. Digital. Sensory Futures



About Material Selvedges


pronunciation: /məˈtɪəriəl ˈselvɪdʒɪz/
noun (used with a singular verb)

1. A radio-making project examining materiality through Global Majority First Nations perspectives, with a focus on Southern and West Africa.

Etymology: From material + selvedges (plural of selvedge, also spelled selvage), from Middle English self + edge. The term performs deliberate wordplay with salvage (from Old French salvage, meaning "to save"), invoking both the textile concept of a self-finished fabric edge and the act of recovering suppressed knowledge systems.



Field Notes

  1. A Cartography of the Invisible


About with another



Material Selvedges is based on with another’s third design principle:
‘Multi-Sensory Materialism’ as featured in: designmanifestos.org and designprinciplesftw.com.

In partnership with African Life-Centric Design + 16/16