Design Indaba: Expo impressions

Yesterday was the last day of the Design Indaba Expo. I beat the heat and the crowds and got there early to see what was on offer, and to take a couple of snaps. Of course, the sheer quantity is overwhelming, and the poor lighting made snap-taking fairly tricky. So what I have to show here is just a fleeting impression of some of the things that caught my eye and came out reasonably well on the screen.

Heath Nash's work with discarded plastics is as intriguing as ever, and his naively put-together stall quite charming. This white light made with plastic milk bottles is simply breathtaking.


Product designer Cornelius Lemmer has been doing some Frankenstein work, taking apart many old ball and claw tables and cupboards and meticulously putting them back together to make one piece. They really are quite beautiful. See more of his work here.

I'd seen the lovely woven cane lampshades and cactuses by Michelle Petrie of Abode, but these modular shelvings systems were new, and I like them a lot.


I was rather intrigued by the complex work of Pieter Henning of MockMock. This coated steel table is rather special, I thought. Their website's not up yet, and these tables are still prototypes, but should you stumble upon this in the future (the near future, I hope), click here and you might be able to find out more.
The Zenzulu stand was very zen - it only had three pieces on it! But what amazing pieces they were. The three intricate wire wall sculptures are part of their Jungle collection, and really, these photos hardly do them justice at all.

There was more intricate weaving at the Aid to Artisans stall too. These come from KwaZulu Natal, who seems to be the place for weaving champs.

Really, these few pics hardly make a dent in what was on offer, and it's likely that I didn't even manage to see the lot. Next February, make sure you're in Cape Town to attend the Design Indaba and Expo. You'll be so glad you did.