African relief organization Keep a Child Alive held its sixth annual Black Ball at the Manhattan Center Studios’ Hammerstein Ballroom last Thursday to raise money for people living with HIV/AIDS and honor Bill Clinton, Youssou N’Dour, and Richard Branson. Guests who paid as much as $100,000 for a table were greeted by decor that aimed to bring African style to modern New York.

“People think of Africa in this antiquated way,” said Keep a Child Alive creative director Earle Sebastian, who conceived the night’s decor. “What I wanted to bring to the table this year was a very contemporary Africa."

Sebastian and event producers at OBO tried to do that with several elements, including models who performed in the lobby area during cocktail hour, dressed in traditional African and tribal garb. Dinner guests on the main floor sat before place settings of mismatched plates to evoke the feel of a colonial house. Above it all, tenting made from mosquito nets filled the venue. 

“A tent would be a place where people would take shelter from storms or the harsh rays of the sun. It’s a place where kings and queens would invite guests, the place where huge festivals and weddings would take place,” Sebastian said. “We were underneath a tent, discussing an issue that was as important as this—we feasted at the same time, enjoyed each other’s company, spoke, and listened to music.”

M.C. Queen Latifah steered the program, which followed presentations to Clinton, N’Dour, and Branson with the highly publicized musical portion. This year Coldplay singer Chris Martin and John Mayer both performed sets before Keep a Child Alive co-founder Alicia Keys took the stage as she does each year, this time for a duet of the hit single “7 Seconds” with N’Dour.