Oríkì: Material Affirmations in Three Acts by Apartamento

Oríkì: Material Affirmations in Three Acts is the debut monograph of Nigerian artist Nifemi Marcus-Bello, spanning his three-part sculptural Oríkì series, including Act I: Friction Ridge, Act II: Tales by Moonlight, and Act III: Whispers of a Trail, exploring bronze, aluminium, and copper, respectively. The book includes a foreword by Eames Demetrios and essays by Irene Sunwoo, Glenn Adamson, and Rita Ouédraogo, as well as an exclusive interview with Camille Okhio. Named Oríkì after the Yoruba practice of praise poetry, the volume includes Nifemi’s own personal oríkì, composed by his mother, Folake Marcus-Bello, as well as a personal essay tracing his artistic development from childhood through the present. Oríkì: Material Affirmations in Three Acts includes both full-colour portraits of the series, alongside a photo diary of process images and personal archive, uncovering the inspiration and personal journey behind Nifemi’s award-winning creations, embodying his ongoing dialogue between materiality and identity. Oríkì: Material Affirmations in Three Acts joins Apartamento’s growing collection of art and design books alongside Miguel Milá: A Life in Design, Leonard Koren’s Arranging Things, Lucia Di Luciano & Giovanni Pizzo: Selected Works, Sam Chermayeff: Beasts, and Serban Ionescu’s A Thing on a Table in a House.

About Nifemi Marcus-Bello
Nifemi Marcus-Bello is a Lagos-based industrial designer and artist rooted in humility, cultural context, and process-led innovation. His work bridges commercial and artistic design, drawing from African traditions to create objects that are intuitive, functional, and deeply connected to place. His work is held in major institutions including MoMA, LACMA, and The Design Museum, London.