Critical Dialogue
Contemporary Design: Object and Identity

Jun 30, 2026 10AM-12PM

Schermer Meeting Hall

This workshop takes place in Schermer Meeting Hall and includes lectures and discussions. Free and open to the public, registration is required.

This program is for art and design enthusiasts who want to better understand the influence of culture and identity on the continually refreshed design legacy that fills our world today. Join us for a lively conversation about contemporary design with Nifemi Marcos-Bello, acclaimed Nigerian artist and designer, Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Curator of Contemporary Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and Kelsey Keith, Creative Director at MillerKnoll. They will discuss Marcus-Bello’s Nigerien roots and cultural impact on his designs. Cameron will provide historical context for the intersecting fields of art and design, while Keith illuminates the commercial discipline of design and enterprise-level branding.

Panel:

Alexandra Cunningham Cameron is a curator, editor, and strategist whose work explores the intersecting fields of design, art, fashion, and media. Since 2018, she has served as the curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Kelsey Keith is currently creative director of MillerKnoll and author of a design newsletter called Ground Condition. She initially joined Herman Miller in 2021 after a dozen years leading design and architecture-focused editorial outlets. Formerly from New York City, she now lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and their two daughters. 

Nifemi Marcus-Bello is a designer whose practice bridges commercial and artistic disciplines. His work is guided by a philosophy that values intuition, resourcefulness, and deep engagement with context. Nifemi’s strength lies in his exploration of materials and his fearless pursuit of new forms and typologies, resulting in truly distinctive products and experiences.

His work and design contributions are held in the collections of major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Design Museum London, among others.

He is the recipient of several international honors, including a Special Mention at the Loewe Craft Prize, the Hublot Design Prize, Monocle’s Emerging Designer Award, and was shortlisted for the Wallpaper* Designer of the Year Award in 2026.

Panel

Alexandra Cunningham Cameron

Alexandra Cunningham Cameron is a curator, editor, and strategist whose work explores the intersecting fields of design, art, fashion, and media. Since 2018, she has served as the curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

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Kelsey Keith

Kelsey Keith is currently creative director of MillerKnoll and author of a design newsletter called Ground Condition. She initially joined Herman Miller in 2021 after a dozen years leading design and architecture-focused editorial outlets. Formerly from New York City, she now lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and their two daughters.

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Nifemi Marcus-Bello

Nifemi Marcus-Bello is a Lagos-based designer whose practice bridges commercial and artistic disciplines. Working across furniture, product design, installations, and research-driven projects, his work explores how objects can reveal the social, cultural, and economic systems that shape everyday life. Guided by a philosophy that values intuition, resourcefulness, and deep engagement with context, Nifemi approaches design as both a tool for inquiry and a medium for storytelling. Central to his practice is an ongoing exploration of materials and production methods. Through a process rooted in observation, experimentation, and collaboration with local industries and craftspeople, he investigates how materials can be pushed beyond their expected uses to produce new forms and typologies. This approach allows him to create distinctive products and spatial experiences while reflecting on broader themes of manufacturing, labor, infrastructure, and global exchange. Operating between critical research and applied design, Nifemi’s work often examines the invisible systems behind objects; how they are made, distributed, and consumed. By foregrounding these processes, he invites audiences to reconsider the histories, networks, and human relationships embedded within everyday materials and products. His work and design contributions are held in the collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Design Museum London, among others. Nifemi is the recipient of several international honors, including a Special Mention at the Loewe Craft Prize, the Hublot Design Prize, Monocle’s Emerging Designer Award, and he was shortlisted for the Wallpaper* Designer of the Year Award in 2026.

Learn More