There’s a selection of striking resistance posters on show at the Open Design Festival that not only celebrates the essence of the festival, Design is for Change, but also marks our 20 years of democracy.

What makes it even more special is that it’s exhibited in the place where Nelson Mandela made his first public speech after his release from prison in 1990 – Cape Town’s City Hall.

This collection of handmade posters tells the story of hundreds of brave South Africans who risked prosecution during the apartheid years when they took to design to help bring about change.

Selected from the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Community Arts Project Archive, these images were created by everyday South African citizens, all secretly part of various anti-apartheid organisations, in collaboration with artists aligned with their cause.

Titled Interruptions: Posters from the Community Arts Project Archive and curated by Emile Maurice on behalf of the Centre for Humanities Research at UWC, the posters were mostly displayed in townships and at political rallies and meetings, enlivening outdoor areas and depicting historical moments such as June 16 and Sharpeville, as well as fallen anti-apartheid heroes like Solomon Mahlangu and Ashley Kriel. Often they were enjoyed purely for their colourful visual appeal, on walls in homes.

The exhibition aims to get people talking about the relationship between politics and art-making, and so create awareness and participation in post-apartheid South Africa.

Here’s everything you need to know about Open Design Cape Town, running until 23 August 2014.

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The Power Of Colour & Texture exhibition is an official World Design Capital 2014 project created by the Cécile & Boyd Foundation, forming part of this year’s 11-day Open Design Cape Town event (Read More).

The foundation took an old container and upcycled it into a transformative space where disadvantaged children can be creative, feel inspired by their surroundings and play with colour, patterns and textures.

With a combination of repurposed furniture (including ordinary plastic chairs that have been covered in clever and colourful felt), Pedersen + Lennard tables and a strong focus on natural elements, the space couldn’t be more inviting.

If you’d like to see and experience the container during the course of Cape Town’s Open Design festival, you’ll find it on the pavement outside City Hall until 23 August 2014.

For more information, visit opendesignct.com or cecileandboyds.com/foundation.

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‘Live Design. Transform Life’ is a key phrase that’s at the forefront of Cape Town’s tenure as World Design Capital 2014. Behind it lies the recognition that for a country such as ours, design cannot merely be an elitist exercise that focuses on luxury goods. Open Design Cape Town, an annual cross-disciplinary design festival held in the Mother City, takes its cue from that concept. Design is for Change is their theme for 2014.

“Design is not just for designers. The aim of Open Design Cape Town is to open up design to everyone and to show how it touches every part of life. We have deliberately formulated the programme to appeal to everyone, from early learners to seasoned professionals. Through Open Design we want people to change the way they think about and experience design,” says Open Design’s co-founder and creative director, Y. Tsai.

The festival, which runs for 11 days starting on 13 August 2014, will use the Cape Town City Hall as its base. However, events will be held at various venues around the city, including private design studios, galleries, design schools and community centres. The full programme is a mix of ticketed and free events.

Events to look forward to include Talk 100, a series of interesting and inspirational talks during lunch times and evenings, featuring both local and international speakers, like Italy’s Professor Ezio Manzini who is considered one of the most important thinkers in sustainable design today; David Trubridge, New Zealand’s best-known furniture and lighting designer, and South Africa’s 16-year-old-web and iStyla app developer Jacques Blom. All of those talks are open and free for anyone to attend.

There’ll also be several tours of areas around Cape Town, including pre-booked architectural tours of historical buildings. There’s also a lifestyle tour through the ever-changing Woodstock and a public art tour through the city.

However, the festival is not all about talks and tours, especially considering that the programme features over 90 events. There are several exhibitions across the city, including one which will be held at City Hall to celebrate 20 years of democracy, by showcasing ‘70s and ‘80s resistance posters from the Community Arts Projects Archive. Also at the City Hall, attendees should be on the lookout for the interactive Playroom, which is geared towards learners, young and old, so they learn about and experience design, both as a career and part of everyday life. Highlights include demonstrations of 3D printing and Augmented Reality technology.

Perhaps most importantly, the festival as a whole presents an opportunity to bring design into the centre of the country’s developmental needs, as expressed by SABS Design Institute’s Gavin Mageni: “Opening the minds of young people through innovative design education can lead to development and economic growth. Without advancing it we might find ourselves confined to the barracks of mediocrity and poverty.”

Open Design runs from 13 to 23 August 2014. Visit opendesignct.com to view the full programme. Follow Open Design on Twitter at @opendesignct.

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