Guild Design Fair – Opens 28 February

Guild Design Fair comes to the Lookout at the V& A Waterfront from 28 February till March 9 and Lucinda Jolly previews.

Global eyes are all on Cape Town this year. The city is World Design Capital of the year making Cape Town the first African city to hold the title and Cape Town has also been nominated the top travel destination.

February will see a flurry of fairs and expos including the Design Indaba, the second Cape Town Art Fair and its design partner, Guild Design Fair all of which open on the same day.

“Guild will be the first international design fair in Africa” according to curator, Trevyn McGowan who co- founded the fair with partner, Julian McGowan, an ex- theatre designer under Southern Guild, the parent company. Their credentials are impressive. Three years ago Southern Guild was the first African Gallery to be included at Design Miami and last year Action Magazine listed them on “Power 100”. And 70% of design pieces are exported through SOURCE, the McGowan’s agency which represents South African design internationally. These designs are snapped up by high end outlets from Anthropologie to The Conrad Shop. International visitors to the fair include the director of the Art Basel fair Marc Spiegler. Furthermore the opening will be graced by Nacho Carbonell’s presence. He forfeited the honour to receive an international award in Spain to be at the opening.

The conception for this fair lies in the ancient beginnings of cutting edge current design paralleled with up to the minute South African and International design with an emphasis on the hand crafted. It was inspired by the first functional and symbolic prehistoric artefacts discovered in the cradle of humankind, Africa. The theme of the fair is as circular as the portal design approach featured on the Guild’s simple, elegant website.

It begins in ancient Africa, moves into the world and returns to the site of its earliest beginnings, Africa. Trevyn’s statement, that “craft is very old in Africa, but design is very young “is true, but only up to a point. For the inclusion of thousand year old artefacts from Africa from the Origins Centre in the fair, raises a number of interesting questions. Is design young in Africa? What is the meaning of “advancement” and “function” Consider an ancient bevelled arrow or spear head. It’s not only a perfect merge of “form follows function”, but one cannot help being moved by its simple beauty.

The McGowan’s invited respected and admired mentors and designers to showcase their works. On display will be 25 works from South African and international designers.

International contributions include work by Rossana Orlandi renowned for her showcases of designers, Nacho Carbonell’s four piece installation, work by Agents of the 3D Revolution a collective of 3D designers, and the Coletivo Amor de Madre gallery. In keeping with the thread that runs through the fair of “handmade work by the very people who conceived of it” the South African designers show a strong influence of nature. Expect to see the Warhorse puppets made by the Handspring Puppet Company and work by Dokter and Misses and Jo Paine. The result is a richly, layered event.

Design is often incorrectly perceived as serving the upper echelons of society. The ethos of World Design Capital and many of this year’s expos and fairs is promoting and manifesting the idea of sustainability and design that supports compromised communities. The Story Vases is just such an example. Artisan a curated collection of handmade pieces by 22 designers, includes vases made by five rural women from Kwa- Zulu Natal which tell their stories. The vases fulfil the criteria of great design, sustainability and the upliftment of economically challenged communities. And last year Design Network Africa who work with sub-Saharan African designers exhibited 16 top African designers as part of London’s Design Festival.

Why would one visit the Guild Design Fair? Trevyn explains that the opportunity for something like this has never existed before in Cape Town, let alone Africa. One would have to travel to Miami or the Art Basel fair. And in European and American fairs the focus is on internationality. Guild Design Fair is nationally driven. It’s an opportunity to discover who we as South Africans are and where one can be part of a design community for a day.

Look out for the Maker Library, a display of the work of several generations of British designers from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Council.

This article first appeared in The Cape Times on 18 February 2014.  Lucinda Jolly is a freelance arts writer and Head of Journalism at City Varsity.

WHERE: The Lookout, Granger Bay, at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.

WHEN:
Friday 28 Feb: 11am – 3pm (opening day)
Monday – Saturday: 11am – 8pm
Sunday 2 Mar: 11am – 6pm
Sunday 9 Mar: 11am – 4pm (closing day)

INFO:  Lezanne on 082 490 6747 or Visit

STRIVING TO PRESERVE AND PROVOKE EXCEPTIONAL, GROUNDBREAKING DESIGN