All of the artists took inspiration from their own country, culture and traditions and created somet...

All of the artists took inspiration from their own country, culture and traditions and created somet...

All of the artists took inspiration from their own country, culture and traditions and created somet...

The Africa Artist Series. Created for the African Cup of Nations.

In an effort to truly harness the identity of different African nations participating in the upcoming 2012 African Cup of Nations (co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea), PUMA called upon local African artists to symbolically represent their nation’s essence by designing respective football shirts for the tournament.

All of the artists took inspiration from their own country, culture and traditions and created something truly unique. Something much more than just a graphic. The result is that for the first time in football, the Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, Gabon, Burkina Faso and South Africa kits have been designed by a local artist. The new kits fuse the worlds of sport, art and culture by identifying their shared values and communities.

To take a closer look at the creative process, which is the most enticing part in my opinion, below is Gabonese artist Owanto’s interpretation of the Gabonese people and their energy.

Local artists creating an audacious coat of arms, can this become the status quo?