Graphic design maestro Peet Pienaar has turned an art exhibition in Mexico into a visual fiesta.

Renowned South African artists such as William Kentridge, Nicholas Hlobo, Zanele Muholi, Penny Siopis and Athi-Patra Ruga are participating in an exhibition in the Mexican city of Oaxaca de Juárez. Peet Pienaar, who lives between both countries, was tasked with creating the graphic elements for Hacer Noche (Crossing Night).

Hacer Noche is an exhibition of Southern African art in Mexico, exploring both cultures’ relationships with death. How did you bring this through in the graphic design?

I included mielies because of the Aztec belief that maize was the origin of Man, so it symbolises life, which is similar in Africa because of it being a main food source. The snake is a symbol of death, and the dog – according to Mexicans – represents the afterlife. It’s the same in Africa, where animals are linked to the afterlife. Also, in a lot of South African art, the dog represents the State, so I found it a fitting idea to present it in the design.

It’s a much more fun and vibrant graphic representation of art exhibition communication than we’ve become accustomed to in such high-profile art shows.

Yes, I wanted to design imagery that comes across as familiar and makes people feel welcome in contemporary art spaces. Design around art usually involves Swiss fonts and minimalism, which have their own context, but which can make audiences feel stupid and unwelcome.

So what font did you use?

I got a local sign-writer to do all the exhibition texts so that it has a very strong handmade aesthetic to it – a contrast to the way art is normally presented. When you see the hand within text, it humanises it, but we also have this notion of it being uncivilised. The less human, the more civilised. Because the exhibition deals with this very human issue, I wanted to make it feel more human.

The colours are also very appealing. Tell us about your choices.

Green is used as a shadow moving into darkness because throughout our lives we are moving into the shadows, eventually into the real shadow. Pink represents death and refers to “whiteness”, Colonialism, etc., while the yellow of maize symbolises life.

It’s not just the print elements you’ve designed, right?

No, I’ve also done piñatas for the opening party, massive street puppets to be paraded through Oaxaca’s streets, fabrics for the exhibition walls, fabric for shirts for those involved in the project and paper cut-out bunting.

Hacer Noche is an exhibition programme of various shows around the Mexican city of Oaxaca de Juárez. On from 10 November 2018 to 5 February 2019.

For more information, visit idrisnaim.com.

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South African surf brand Mami Wata has opened its first store in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap.

Designed by Mami Wata’s three founders, including creative director Peet Pienaar, the space features a mixture of modern, Scandi-inspired design elements complemented by raw stone walls.

You’ll find the brand’s full range within the space, from boards, each of which has been hand-made by local master shaper Hugh Thompson, to bags, shorts, T-shirts, caps and fair-trade coffee. All of Mami Wata’s products have been designed, sourced and manufactured in South Africa.

You can read all about the brand and its reason for being, here.

Mami Wata’s store is located at 81 Rose Street, Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. You can also shop the collection online at mamiwata.surf.

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“The first day Sharon and I brainstormed, ‘He arrives Mr Big Shot, he leaves Mr Nobody’ was one of the first African proverbs that came up. We laughed so hard,” smiles Heidi Chisholm, cofounder of Mr Somebody and Mr Nobody, with Sharon Lombard, who are based in New York and Miami respectively. 

“It was the same with me. I come to the US, I think I’m something,” Heidi says as she reminisces about how she left South Africa as an award-winning graphic artist who wasn’t as well known in the US. Sharon’s family emigrated 35 years ago and Heidi is relatively new to the country. 

After cofounding and running Daddy Buy Me A Pony with Peet Pienaar for eight years, Heidi bonded with Sharon over their love for “the African aesthetic”. The result is Mr Somebody and Mr Nobody, a homeware brand that has exhibited and sold everything from khangas to doilies and carved chickens since 2011.

Mr Somebody and Mr Nobody has taken other quirky quotes – like “If you wait long enough an egg will start walking” – on colourful craft from Art Basel/Miami to Design Indaba. “We work more as artists than designers,” Sharon says. They print short runs of khangas and enlist carvers in Ghana to bring their sculptures to life.

“They put a certain naivety to it that makes it absolutely gorgeous,” says Heidi. “If you ask someone in the US to do the same then it’ll come out exactly like the design. It loses that African-ness.” 

And so, Mr Somebody and Mr Nobody has made Heidi and Sharon feel like somebodys in the States. In fact, they  have been included in the book Cultural Threads: Transnational Textiles Today, due for publication in November 2014.  

mrsomebodyandmrnobody.com

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