Your Canvas, Built To Resist

For this collaboration, Rabi drew inspiration from her Fulani heritage, a nomadic ethnic group whose values deeply inform her artistic practice. Her customization of the Travelpack is a tribute to movement, land, and the pursuit of knowledge. Using imagery like water ripples and topographic lines, she created a design that radiates from handcrafted flowers made with Léppi, a traditional Fulani indigo fabric, and cowrie shells, symbols of cultural significance.

The Travelpack was a natural choice for Rabi—a bag designed for movement, both in form and function. It became a canvas for storytelling, reflecting her personal journey, her travels, and the meaningful connections she’s made along the way.

The design process was intuitive and deeply personal. Guided by the prompt to create something that felt authentically “her,” Rabi began with her cultural roots. She incorporated three-dimensional elements, tapping into her sewing background to craft the Léppi flowers—her first time using this technique. Red beads sewn into the bag echo those once braided into her hair during her first visit back to Guinea, adorned in the traditional Djoubadé hairstyle. Every detail was intentional, forming a continuous narrative across the entire bag to symbolize the evolving nature of movement.

Rabi’s artistic style is minimalist yet layered, often exploring themes of belonging, growth, and cultural values. Her work is a meditation on how her cultural and spiritual identities shape her perspective and relationships. She frequently uses corporal and nature-based elements, especially hands, as expressive tools in her visual storytelling.

Creativity is a fluid and multifaceted process. She embraces both refining existing skills and experimenting with new forms of expression. Her art is grounded in presence and attention, with each piece reflecting a thoughtful engagement with her surroundings and inner world. She views artistic output as a responsibility, choosing carefully what she shares publicly and allowing herself time to sit with ideas before bringing them to life.

Beyond this project, Rabi is passionate about how spaces are created and transformed. Her initiative, Compound Canvas, is a platform that explores spatial design through diverse perspectives, aiming to break down barriers of understanding, access, and ownership. She’s especially curious about how culture informs design and how people assign meaning to their environments. Community has played a vital role in Rabi’s journey. Omek, a platform that affirms and uplifts talents of African descent across the diaspora, spaces like these have been essential to her growth and creative evolution.