Cape furniture favourites

Local furniture designers and manufacturers stepped up in style for the second annual Proudly Capetonian Furniture Exhibition. Presented by the Western Cape Furniture Initiative, it formed part of Creative Week Cape Town.

Some of the country’s best local designers and manufacturers were proud exhibitors, including Haldane Martin, Aidan Bennetts, Wolf & Maiden, Okha, Frank Böhm, Andrew Dominic, Casamento and James Mudge, not to mention a host of edgier youngstas such as Thingking and Abode.

Although themes of modernist lines and lovingly crafted sustainable wood predominated, the overall creative diversity is testament to the growth of the local industry.

“South Africa is a young democracy seeking its cultural identity and this process is portrayed in our local furniture with their distinctive brands,” agreed Martin in his keynote address.

A revered South African icon of design, the furniture designer went on: “In my opinion what it takes to be a successful creative entrepreneur is PASSION. As clichéd as that may sound it is nevertheless true. Passion is an inexhaustible resource that will see us though all the trials and tribulations that challenge us as we go about manifesting our creative vision in the world. Then, of course, dogged persistence and many other personal qualities are also necessary but passion is the fuel that keeps us going.”

The exhibition was the brainchild of the Western Cape Furniture Initiative, which was formally registered as a non-profit in 2009 to develop and grow the local furniture industry by building and marketing a furniture brand locally and internationally.

More info about the Western Cape Furniture Initiative: www.capefurniture.za.org

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