"And what if people absolutely hate what you’ve created? What if people attack you with savage vitriol, and insult your intelligence, and malign your motives, and drag your good name through the mud? Just smile sweetly and suggest — as politely as you possibly can — that they go and make their own fucking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
With #WCW on our lips and spread throughout our social pages, how appropriate to celebrate women in art. After all, what better way than to crush on beauty, brains and honestly, just creative genius. As we near one of South Africa's most prestigious creative events of the year, Design Indaba, an event on every lover of all things' creative lips. We wait with baited breath, to experience the Crème de la crème of artistry from architecture, film, fine art, story telling, fashion, multimedia, performance art , technology and and and. Design Indaba celebrates 25 years of embracing and encouraging platforms for creatives all around the world to learn, share ideas and marvel at one another's ability to invent excellent, progressive solutions for everyday global challenges. Since 1995 Founder Ravi Naidoo and his team have worked diligently and uncompromisingly to expose us to the diamonds in the rough like the #Emergingcreatives,the trail blazers, the custodians and buoyant speakers from the world of creativity.
The new decade will bring a greater-than-ever abundance of multifaceted female artists in countless industries of invention, if you haven't yet seen the signs of my prediction. So without further ado or my biased opinion (cheeky smile), Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to some of the phenomenal women scheduled to showcase at the Design Indaba 2020 Festival (26 - 28 February) in no particular order.
1. Natsai Audrey Chiez
Zimbabwean-born bio-designer and researcher Natsai Audrey Chiez , explores ways of achieving beautifully dyed textiles without polluting the environment. As her title suggests, bio-design mimics nature using biology as its greatest inspiration. Bio-designers find a way of incorporating living organisms into design. London-based multidisciplinary design agency Faber Futures' founder and CEO work at providing the knowledge to multi- sector brands on how to fuse nature with technology effectively. Winners of an INDEX award for Project Coelicolor, Natsai's team found a viable solution to colour textiles naturally by using a specific bacteria that lives in soil and produces an an antibiotic called actinorhodin, produced in colours blue, pink and purple, depending on the acidity of its environment. Through meticulous research the studio found in this method of dying textiles was not only chemical-free but water efficient . A genius lesson in not changing the game but its players. We look forward to learning more from this informative speaker.
2. Lidewij Edelkoort
A Design Indaba favourite , trend forecaster and futurist Lidewij Edelkoort is back with an insightful two-part three-hour presentation to be hosted live both in Johannesburg and Cape Town as part of the official 25th year Design Indaba festivities. Expect to hear an in-depth talk about the Green Revolution with practical examples in the first part of her presentation followed by the new direction of food and how that impacts our daily lives. Lidewij takes us through why it is so on-trend to go green highlighting its importance while elaborating on ecological green and aesthetic green. Giving us a concise overview or her Summer 2021 Colour Forecast, Lidewij shows us why "going green" is an inevitable step in the progression of design. Li simplifies the beauty of green when she says “Maybe the most important thing about green is its capacity to bring joy. Its energy and charisma are compelling and will help us be, combating despair with optimism and happiness: joy seen as another form of activism.” Experiencing the stylish, charismatic Li Edelkoort is one hell of a treat and you have no excuse to miss her if you are attending Design Indaba Johannesburg.
3. Crystal Birch
Shall we say the Lady with many hats? Crystal Birch is perfectly matched for the task at hand as one of the creative trifecta curators for the young enthusiastic #emergingcreatives class of 2020. Known for her elaborate custom millinery hat designs that have graced many runways and high fashion magazine spreads, Crystal Birch is a celebrated local designer, stylist, art director and set designer. Her fun and playful personality is exactly what these budding designers need as motivation to be fearless and deliberately themselves through their work. She is a perfect example that creativity needs no rules, just a strong nurtured vision, discipline, perseverance and structure. There is no reason why the class of 2020 should not soar beneath her wings
We hope we have given you enough reason to crush too. Stay tuned to see who else has caught our attention in our Design Indaba Series 2020.
Tickets for Design Indaba's 25 year celebration can be purchased on www.designindaba.com