Malika Leiper

Our solo exhibition KUBA SUGI is now open at space Un gallery in Tokyo. Beginning in Kinshasa and culminating in Yoshino, this hybrid project brings together two distinct cultures - the ceremonial raffia textiles of the Kuba Kingdom and the sacred materiality of Japanese cedar. 1) Kuba Sugi (Tokonoma) - Our interpretation of the Japanese interior alcove to display art and flowers. Our ikebana was made from a Yoshino river stone and cowrie shells, and the kakemona is reimagined with a veil of raffia pailettes 2) Kuba Sugi (Hashira) - Meaning column or pillar, the Hashira’s hollow form is punctuated with openings softened by patches of Lambath - the short cut-pile textile, the prized “velour” of the Kuba people. Thank you to all our collaborators who made this work possible 🙏🏼 12:00 - 19:00 Wednesday - Sunday Until October 26th, 2025 @spaceun.tokyo @kilubukila @stephenburksmanmade

The precious corner studio of Vico Magistretti - a fitting start to Milan Design Week. @fondazionemagistretti

Tous Pour Vous, Les Mamans On this #womensday let us recognize the beautiful Kuba artists of the Kilubukila Atelier and Cultural Project, with whom Stephen and I had the joy of meeting last June in Kinshasa. As Maman Princesse Jacqueline says, “I realize that what we do and how we teach it to our children, is to ensure continuity so that our customs never disappear.” Thanks to you, and all the women and girls around the world, for keeping craft traditions alive 🙏🏻 🙏🏽 1) Bernadette Kwete Boulape 2) Adele Mbomatchiele Bope 3) Julienne Sembula 4) Jacqueline Boulape 5) Louise Baota Bape 6) Carole & Bernadette Peshanga @stephenburksmanmade @kilubukila @themintmuseum #designingdynamism #kubatextiles #congo

Designing Dynamism - exhibition design, branding and curatorial content for the Mint Museum’s landmark exhibition of Kuba prestige textiles from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kuba raffia textiles are some of the most sought after textiles in the world. Characterized by their bold geometries of repeating and interlocking motifs, Kuba design has shaped modern abstract expressionist art movements with artists like Klimt and Matisse, who drew directly from its visual language of syncopated rhythms, emblems and symbolism. Located in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kuba Kingdom is a multi ethnic federation that thrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their mastery of raffia fibers which they transformed into clothing, textiles, and even architecture, continues today as Kuba is exported and collected in institutions worldwide. The short documentary we produced In Search of Kuba, situates Kuba arts and culture within contemporary design in order to explore its potential for future transformation. Thank you to our partners and the artisans of the @kilubukila cultural project and workshop who generously hosted us in Kinshasa, sharing their culture and knowledge. And to @herman_kambala and @hloyk our cinematography team who documented our conversations with professors, curators and entrepreneurs, as we discussed the future of Kuba. We’re deeply grateful to senior curator at the Mint Museum @anniecarlano for her trust, curiosity, and enthusiasm on this journey. And @vanessadrakemoraga whose brilliant scholarship informed much of our research. Lastly, shoutout to @byborre textiles with whom we collaborated on a Kuba-inspired custom digitally knitted textile for the upholstered seating throughout the galleries. Designing Dynamism - Kuba Textiles from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Wesley Mancini Collection is on view until August 23rd, 2026 at the Mint Museum Randolph, North Carolina. @themintmuseum @stephenburksmanmade

We are pleased to welcome Malika Leiper as our 2026 fellow at dieDAS. Malika Leiper is a multidisciplinary designer whose creative practice bridges art, architecture, and urbanism. Born and raised in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Leiper’s upbringing during a period of post-conflict reconstruction and rapid urbanization deeply influenced her focus on cultural conservation and economic transformation through design.  As a young adult, she moved to New York to attend Columbia University, where she earned her BA in History and Creative Writing. Upon graduation, she began a five-year career in the culinary arts as a chef at the beloved West Village restaurant Buvette. Recognizing the sociospatial dimension of the city through food, she went on to pursue a Master in Urban Planning degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 2020, she joined renowned studio Stephen Burks Man Made as Cultural Director and later partner.  In this role, she has helped launch several key exhibitions, including Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place (High Museum of Art, 2023; Philadelphia Museum of Art; 2024) and Kuba Sugi (Space Un, Tokyo; 2025). Most recently, the studio was selected as members of the collaborative design team for the 2025 US Pavilion, PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. Their curatorial contribution Objects of Belonging amplified the porch as a site of creativity and diversity through crafted objects like brooms, baskets and quilts. Leiper has also contributed as an author to design publications like The Architects Newspaper, Disegno, and Domus writing on topics such as post-colonial modernism, the decolonization of museum practices, and how design can extend craft traditions into the future.

“To come out on the porch was to see and be seen, to have nothing to hide. It signaled a willingness to be known.” -bell hooks In my hometown of Kampot, Stephen and I witnessed Yeay (grandma) basking in the sunset light on her Sala. Yes, we have porches in Cambodia too! The patchwork curtains floating in the breeze transported us back to Alabama where we had just spent a week getting to know the quilters of Gee’s Bend and developing what would become “Objects of Belonging” Stephen Burks Man Made’s contribution to PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the 2025 US Pavilion at La Biennale Architettura di Venezia. As the biennale comes to an end, I’m reminded of that moment in Kampot and the feeling of kinship amongst strangers. I’m forever grateful for the privilege to have represented the United States, a country that is, for better or worse, also my home. Despite the politics of division that rob us of our humanity, architecture and design have the power to connect us, to close the distance and remind us that we all belong, to this earth and one another. @stephenburksmanmade @porchusa2025 @labiennale Historic photographs courtesy of US Library of Congress

Two dreamy weeks with @stephenburksmanmade exploring cedar forests and Shinto shrines while in residence @spaceun.tokyo in the iconic Yoshino Cedar House designed by Go Hasegawa. @spaceun.tokyo @go_hasegawa #kubasugi #artistinresidence

“What does it mean to invite someone into a community? And what do we define as home?” asked Malika Leiper during On Site: Venice, our exploration into the themes and ideas presented at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.  As co-curators of the US Pavilion at this year’s Biennale (@porchusa2025 ), @malikaleiper and Stephen Burks—partners at @stephenburksmanmade —collaborated with 10 quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama (@sewgeesbend_heritagebuilders ) and Italian fabric house @dedarmilano to create 10 unique quilts for the exhibition. For generations, a close-knit group of women in the community of Gee’s Bend—located in Alabama’s rural Black Belt—have carried forward a remarkable tradition of quiltmaking. With bold geometries and abstract compositions, the quilts are often made from whatever fabric is at hand, similar to works of jazz assembled through virtuosic improvisation, and are unconstrained by a predetermined pattern or color scheme.  The quilts featured in the US Pavilion as part of Objects of Belonging, Stephen Burks Man Made’s collection of handmade works that reframe the porch as a site of creativity and resistance, while emphasizing the transformative potential of craft in underserved communities of the American South.  At the link in @theworldaround ’s bio, watch Quilting, a video from Stephen Burks Man Made and Dedar that documents the studio’s collaboration with the Gee’s Bend quiltmakers and the rich legacy of this community of artists  On Site: Venice is the first in The World Around’s new series of On Site programs, which offer insight into the most anticipated events in the global architecture and design calendar through The World Around’s eyes on the ground. Follow @theworldaround on Instagram for the latest from On Site: Venice. The World Around & SMAC (@smac_venice ) presented On Site: Venice at the auditorium of The Human Safety Net (@thehome_of_thehumansafetynet ) on May 8, 2025. Cover image: Tinnie Pettway, a third-generation Gee’s Bend quilter, sits out  on her porch with her Tiger Silk quilt made in collaboration with Stephen Burks Man Made and fabric from Dedar. 📸: @robculpepper_   Reel 📸: @timhursley Quilting 📹: @marcusjay_dp

Last week, @stephenburksmanmade and I celebrated the opening of PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity - the 2025 US Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. In the words of Reverend Reginald Walker, “The porch symbolizes being on the threshold - neither fully inside nor fully outside mirroring the balance between the self and the world.” As part of the curatorial design team, alongside @marlonblackwellarchitects and @tenxtenstudio with D.I.R.T. Studio, we created a PORCH of belonging, exchange, and transformation. Congratulations to everyone involved in this collaborative effort. It was an honor to share these joyous moments together in the making and unveiling of the PORCH. @labiennale @porchusa2025 @crystalbridgesmuseum @fayjonesschool @novitapr @dedon_official @dedarmilano @sewgeesbend_heritagebuilders @bcstudentcraft @fridolin.pilliod @marcusjay_dp

Termite Mounds, 2025; Chicken wire, newspaper, flour paste Some process images from our time at THREAD - the Albers Foundation residency in Sinthian, Senegal. @thread_senegal @stephenburksmanmade #termites #artistresidency

Hand painted Senegal

Our residency at the Archie Bray Foundation has been a dream so far - big skies, snow capped mountains and studio space altogether in this sanctuary for the ceramic arts! @stephenburksmanmade @archie_bray