Wa 和...
the spirit of Japan
and harmony.
Wafrica encapsulates both West Africa and Japanese ancient sophisticated aesthetic to create a new territory, redefining our sense of origin.
Wa 和...
Serge Mouangue
Founder, Art Director
Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Serge moved with his family to Paris, where he often visited the Centre Pompidou and became interested in design. After studying Applied Arts, Interior and Industrial Design, he worked in architecture (Australia), apparel (China) and automotive design (France).
Then in 2006, a Renault-Nissan posting to Tokyo led him to discern remarkable affinities between West Africa and Japan: both « hyper-village » societies with animistic views of nature, highly mannered nonverbal communication and supremely stylised visual expressions.
From 2008, his Wafrica project has created « Third Aesthetic » artworks marrying Japanese wa refinement and West African vitality. His African textile kimonos have since been shown to worldwide acclaim throughout Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
Starting from 2010, he has collaborated with Japanese lacquer artists to imagine Wafrican masks and sculptures like the iconic Blood Brothers, debuted at the New York Museum of Art and Design.
Wafrica projects generated media attention in Japan gaining momentum internationally when Serge became a TED Fellow in 2011.
Most recently, he has expanded into installations, performances and other diverse genres. Serge Mouangue’s dream dialogues give hope of beautiful new possibilities that arise when we look beyond our own stories to a greater shared truth.