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Design Indaba Series: Who To Watch


Sunny Dolat image supplied by Design Indaba


The month of Design Indaba is finally upon us and we have officially begun our countdown. Celebrating 25 years of creative excellence through multidisciplinary solution-driven innovation, thought-provoking storytelling, mind-blowing illustrations and groundbreaking ideas shared through the many facets of art and design.With so much to learn and see, how best to get you as excited as we are than to share with you some of the amazing speakers to expect this year.


1. Chef Selassie Atadika


Objectively speaking, food is one of the greatest love languages. It has the power to comfort, serves as an ice-breaker to the beginning of significant conversations and undeniably brings people together to have some of the most meaningful engagements. The experience of food is multi-sensory. From the scent of beautifully orchestrated spices and herbs to the eye's delight at the encounter of an array of colours, finished off with the lip-smacking, throat-tingling, soul-satisfying taste of a well put together meal. Food is one way of restoring old memories and making new ones. This proves true to Chef Selassie Atadika. Chef Atadika was born in Ghana and due to political tension moved to the USA. Although she was many kilometers from home, food remained a constant memory of her heritage and childhood. Chef Atadika shares Ghana with the world on a plate, showing that traditional Ghanaian food can be sophisticated and a fine dining experience. One of Design Indaba's 2020 speakers, Chef Atadika takes us on a nostalgic culinary journey from where her love for food began, to where she plans to take her pride for Ghana through food.



2. Paul Cocksedge



As the digital world rapidly develops we find ourselves more and more engrossed in what is happening on our screens. Face-to-face engagement awkwardness seems to increase with every click. British designer Paul Cocksedge's public installation ‘Please Be Seated’, made a strong statement at the London Design Festival. The wave-like communal bench was built using scaffolding planks to create ripples that flow from a small intimate ring to a large third one. The installation allows for human engagement with the work as well as those around it and walking through it.Paul has a brilliant way of humanizing design. There are many ways we can interact and be part of design, and Paul will be right there to tell us how.



3. Sunny Dolat



Nairobi - based creative director, cultural producer and fashion curator, Sunny Dolat takes to the Design Indaba stage this year as one of our most anticipated speakers. Expressing his love for African Fashion and how it is showcased throughout the world is a deep passion of his. Sunny strongly vocalises how we should not limit great fashion design to some of the leading fashion capitals in the African continent; namely Johannesburg, Lagos, Cairo, Nairobi and Dakar, but rather explore the rest of Africa. Our culture and beliefs can be beautifully interpenetrated into high-end fashion for the world to enjoy . We look forward to hearing how we can share our pride for Africa in our apparel.


These three speakers are just a taste of what to look forward to at this years Design Indaba. Expect two full days jam packed with activities, exhibitions from top class creatives from diverse backgrounds and vast schools of thought! Enjoy all the festivities of the event and be prepared to be blown away.




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