In August 1995, I made my way to Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, to "Study" African Art and History with some incredible people. Leading the group were Jerry Vogel and Phil Peeks. Jerome Vogel, along with Susan Vogel, founded the Museum for African Art in 1984. The MAA's original location, Broadway and Houston, NYC, was the of the universe - for my collegiate eyes at least. Phil Peek, professor of Anthropology and chair of that department at Drew University, is a specialist in Arts and culture of West Africa.

We were roughly 30 participants on this trip: from art students and art historians like myself, to teachers, retirees, and others who simple had a desire to travel to Africa. We came from all walks of life, and had equally varying expectations of this trip. Those differences and expectations were given less and less attention as each day passed and we climbed into cramped minivans for caravan rides from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro to Bouake to Khorogo and back to Abidjan.

For many of us, this was the first trip to Africa, and the experience was eye-opening. We spent time with filmmakers (Idrissa Diabate), writers, historians, painters (of note, the late Gerard Santoni), world class potters, bronze casters, iron smelters, textile weavers, etc.

At each stop, there was new information to absorb, talent to appreciate, product to buy (or haggle over).

At the time, I couldn't figure out why seasoned travelers such as Jerry and Phil would even tolerate the nuisance of 30 travellers tagging along (need I mention the complaints, stomach ailments, frustrations with money, language, etc). But I was surely grateful. The Ivoirienne people showed us not only the best of hospitality, kindness, generosity of time, but also shared priceless history on craft and living arts (textiles, sculpture, decor) which, though passed on among generations by practice and oral history, are often missing from written record.

While traditional the African Arts (performance masks and such - a few of which, we saw (randomly in the streets!!) and during organized group performances) have been fairly well recorded and traded for global consumption, contemporary African art and design are sorely underrepresented in the western marketplace.

For the first time, I realized that African Art, film making, craftsmanship, etc goes well beyond the traditional to the very contemporary.

I've since travelled to over 10 African countries and lived in one, Cameroon, for nearly 3 years. After a very long journey since that first trip in 1995, I've come full circle (I think) to launch Contemporary African Home. Our mission is to feature modern African aesthetics in a way that elevates the cache of African goods in the global marketplace: from decorative or traditional to modern masterpiece.

So the outcome is contemporary, premium-quality furniture and case goods made by craftsmen in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I'll be sharing our stories, old and new, as we evolve.