The Design Indaba Festival returns to Cape Town’s Artspace Theatre Complex from 27 February to 1 March for its legendary conference on creativity - and Nataal will be along for the wild ride. The multi-disciplinary happening this year features over 30 immersive talks by talents drawn to the city from around the globe including fashion designer Adebayo Oke-Lawal, architect Mariam Kamara, sound artist Yuri Suzuki, activist Thandiswa Mazwai, biotechnologist Markus Kayser and inventor Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez. From famous names to young graduates, from socially conscious design to revolutionary innovation, it’s all served up with nous here.

Alongside the conference - and simulcast in cities across South Africa - will be a series of exhibitions, performances, installations, workshops and screenings spanning food, fashion, music, theatre, art and more. It’s these elements that are what makes Design Indaba such a can-do and inspiring experience. The well-established Emerging Creatives platform gives young South African talents invaluable exposure each year. This time around seek out interior designer Simphiwe Mlambo, illustrator Paul Senyol, print designer Primrose Chimhanda and jewellery designer Bonolo Moloi among the 50 future stars on show.

Meanwhile former Emerging Creative Daniel Ting Chong, an Artificial Intelligence aficionado, has used creative coding to build a collaborative artwork for Design Indaba 2019. Li Edelkoort returns to the festival for her ever-popular seminar predicting the game changing trends for 2020. She’ll challenge the debate around cultural appropriation and explore the use of crafts and colours in both fashion and interiors. And the finalists of the annual Most Beautiful Object in South Africa competition will be on show, too.

Keep an eye on Nataal for more stories on Design Indaba 2019 in the coming weeks.

Design Indaba Festival is from 27 February to 1 March, 2019 at Artscape Theatre Complex, Cape Town. Buy tickets here

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Published on 02/02/2019