Insights from the January session with the Bafut Community

On January 10th, 2025, Design Reparations partnered with Princess Abumbi Prudence from the Bafut Community in Cameroon.

The presentation revealed an idea of design that is not just solving practical needs or being a vehicle of creativity, but as an ongoing conversation that transcends time. 

In the Bafut tradition design practices like weaving plant fibers into garments, thatching roofs with local grasses carry deep cultural significance and they become vessels of messages from ancestors while preparing lessons for future generations. 

What emerged most powerfully was the depth of relational thinking embedded in Bafut design choices. Materials are never treated as inert resources but as active participants.

As Princess Abumbi explained, "We are here to connect it to ourselves," describing how the community sees their work as part of an unbroken chain of knowledge. The plant fibers used for clothing, the grasses selected for roofing, even the warrior traditions with their stories of humans learning from animals, all reveal a way of thinking rooted in careful observation and respect for more than human teachers.