The fringe event - Design Joburg Collective (which will include industry walk-arounds, trend talks and networking events) kicks off on May 17 and will be live in nearby décor and design districts Kramerville and 44 Stanley.
Now in its fourth year, this full-scale show is a showcase of where interiors and design, fashion, architecture and sustainable design practices are in South Africa, where new talents are putting their energy and what the future holds for design as a vehicle of change and drive in Southern Africa and further afield.
The Creative Panel driving this year’s collaborations and highlights include some of the city’s finest creative minds including award winning contemporary multimedia visual artist and furniture designer Trevor Stuurman, interiors maven and furniture designer and founder of Cocoon Lifestyle Bilala Mabuza, ideas synthesiser Sir Abner Makgamatha, founder of creative agency Application Form, art director for much lauded fashion brand David Tlale as well as creative director for Abryanz Style and Fashion Awards (Uganda) and Master of Afrofuturism Manthe Ribane, founder and creative director for Natura Co-Lab and editor at large for House & Leisure.
They have pooled their resources to create a deeply immersive experience that embraces technology and tech innovations, sustainable design practices and explorations, new developments and material usage and a post-pandemic response to the world as we know it.
From local industrial and furniture designers to fabric and furnishings experts, leading audiovisual authorities, the country’s most exciting ceramicists and interior design studios, architecture doyens and sustainability innovators – Design Joburg ticks all the boxes as far as décor and design in Southern Africa goes.
“Design Joburg is also an opportunity to meet the people making waves in the broader creative arena; including architecture, decor, design and fashion and to experience their work while tapping into their insights first hand.
“Its return marks real conversations on the local and global design landscape and how these continue to shape the future of design and its evolving role in the human psyche,” says Mabuza, who explains that this year Design Joburg also plays host to an even more evolved iteration of the show’s CoLabs concept, where local designers work together to create evocative and boundary-pushing room sets.
“As the world looks to the African continent for creative inspiration, Design Joburg is set to redefine collaboration as a design tool for progressive thinking as Africa’s leading design event, bringing together the very best of “glocal” creative trailblazers and innovators.
“Design leaders and followers alike are assured of a cutting edge experience where they will be fed on a multitude of levels – leaving them inspired and certainly proud to be witness to some of the best design innovators and innovations of our times,” adds Makgamatha.
The event has also turned an intentional lens on upcoming talent, many of whom have been mentored by established designers.
An innovation from 2021, the Design Joburg Collective is now a permanent feature and must-do for the local décor world’s decision makers and devotees alike.
A collection of décor-focused events hosted as a ‘fringe’ to the show, Collective returns to Kramerville and 44 Stanley (with further districts to be announced).
The Collective includes Lexus drivebys and on-foot walk-arounds, industry gatherings and brand launches, studio showcases, trend talks, workshops and importantly, a chance for lovers of décor and design to gather again and immerse themselves in the world they love.
