The Modernist’s latest talk focuses on design in a decolonised West Africa

The Modernist welcome renowned architectural historian Ewan Harrison for the latest edition of their talk series.

Number 6 in the series, the event will focus on Kingsway Stores of Nigeria, which was part of a British-owned retail chain that had grown through the first half of the 20th century through the sale of imported luxury goods to British colonial civil servants and expatriate businessmen.

At independence, the chain began marketing its existing range to a new African clientele. Building on patterns of colonial intervention in the lives of indigenous people, Kingsway stores used marketing campaigns to sell a vision of modern domesticity to African consumers through newly-constructed modernist department stores.

Ewan Harrison, who is also a lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture, will discuss Kingsway’s responses to decolonisation and its use of modernist design in an effort to preserve business in the region.