WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring IMAGES courtesy of Design Indaba
The nominees for 2020’s Most Beautiful Object in South Africa have been announced.
Forming part of the Design Indaba Festival programme, Most Beautiful Object in South Africa is made up of 10 objects / projects, each nominated by a local industry leader and personality, from artists and performers to fashion designers and film directors.
The winner will be announced at the Design Indaba Festival, running from 26 – 28 February 2020, in Cape Town. Last year, the award went to Houtlander for the design duo’s Interdependence Bench II.
You can vote online for your favourite at designindaba.com. The objects will also be on view at Nightscape, a ticketed after-hours event that is open to the public and forms part of the Festival.
Below, in no particular order are the list of nominees and nominators:
- ‘Zenande’ from Zizipho Poswa’s Magodi series, a ceramic sculpture inspired by traditional African hairstyles (nominated by creative director and GQ’s Best Dressed Man 2018, Seth Shezi)
Image credit: Hayden Phipps
- The hanging Soroban installation at FYN restaurant, a design collaboration between Tristan du Plessis and Christof Karl, inspired by the Japanese abacus (nominated by urban strategist and founder and director of Our Future Cities, Rashiq Fataar)
- Thebe Magugu’s Dawning installation, launched at Somerset House during London Fashion Week, designed to represent South Africa and its Constitution (nominated by performer and creative director of ArteBOTANICA, Manthe Ribane)
- Rich Mnisi’s Nwa-Mulamula Chaise, a tribute to the designer’s late great-grandmother (nominated by fashion designer Lukhanyo Mdingi)
Image credit: Hayden Phipps
- Photographs from Tiaan Nagel’s 19/20 “Remember Who You Are” campaign, inspired by a piece of writing by Ntokozo Mbokazi (nominated by South African-born actress Jodi Balfour)
- A plaster version of William Kentridge’s bronze Open sculpture, which forms part of the current sculpture exhibition at the Norval Foundation (nominated by CEO of the Norval Foundation and former Director of Institutional Development and External Affairs at Zeitz MOCAA, Elana Brundyn)
- Robinson the raffia dog by local brand Chommies, designed to display Chommies’ hand-crafted designs (nominated by House and Leisure editor Charl Edwards)
- The “Delicate Bracelet” by Izandla Zethu African Jewellery. This hand-made design, made from recycled corrugated iron, aims to inspire young people to use their skills to combat unemployment amongst the youth (nominated by artist and activist Blessing Ngobeni)
- Self-portrait by Trevor Stuurman. “The image shows a creative king, someone who represents the progress African artists have made on the world stage,” says film director Sunu Gonera, who nominated the image.
- Githan Coopoo’s sculpted earrings, hand-made jewellery that crosses the boundaries between fashion and art (nominated by textile designer and ethical manufacturer Sindiso Khumalo)
Vote for your favourite at designindaba.com and find out more about Design Indaba 2020 at conference.designindaba.com.
