Whether you’re accessorising with fairy lights or you’re in need of a new rug, use any of these 11 buys to make your chill area extra cosy this season.

1. Fallen Leaves Cushion (40cm x 60cm) R199, @home

2. Zig-Zag Contemporary Rug (2.5m x 3.5m) R18 900, Kelim B Design at Mae Artisan Rugs

3. Velvet Scatter Cushion in Yellow R199, Woolworths

4. Large Jar Fireside Treats Candle R365, Yankee Candle

5. Mustard Floor Cushion R1 400, Shaw Sisters at Green Elephant Collective

6. Vintage Overdyed Kilim R10 995, Weylandts

7. Avani Bio-Ethanol Fireplace R4 883, Beauty Fires

8. LED Battery String Lights – Winter Mix R199, Cotton Cable at Superbalist.com

9. Arrows Throw R499, Hertex Fabrics at Superbalist.com

10. Pine Trees Wallpaper R250 – R350, Hello Dolly Designs

11. Ceramic Ball Bean Bag With Faux Fur Cover R99.99, Mr Price Home

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So that you haven’t seen-it-all-before, old exhibitors promise new wares and the fair boasts a bevy of new exhibitors. Among these is a curated selection of traditional crafts and high-quality produce from the spectacular Route 62 region in the Western Cape. Once you’ve tasted your way through the port, jam, brandy and olives, make sure to run a hand across the woven blankets from Barrydale Hand Weavers and take a moment to marvel at the recycled chandeliers by the Magpie Collective (some of which hang in the White House!). 

As always, one of the highlights of the design section is the access it offers Joburg shoppers to Cape Town designers such as the organic furniture of Meyer von Wielligh, the hip designs of Dark Horse, the funky accessories of Pichulik, the oh-so-desirable leather ware of Missibaba, the paper magic of Simple Intrigue and the evergreen fabric prints of Skinny Laminx. The Shaw Sisters will represent from Durban, David Krynauw from Mpumalanga and Raw Studios from Pretoria. 

Joburg favourites Mia Widlake, Snapp Design, L’Mad Collection, Goet and Ceramic Factory will also be there. Excitingly Anatomy Design will be launching their new smalls range.

On the food front old favourites such as Richard Bosman and Yswara tea will be back, alongside new exhibitors that include Italy’s pesto champion, Roberto Panizza, as well as Tutto Food Co’s gourmet Jozambique concept. Wine aficionados can enjoy the best from the Cape Winelands with Spier, Meerlust, Newstead and Hermanuspietersfontein as well as new-comer Marvellous Wines.

As sponsors of the fair, Sanlam Investments welcomes these inspirational experts who have honed their skills to create such a rich array of bespoke art and produce. They recognise that building wealth requires as much patience and craftsmanship as required by those who participate in the food, wine and design industries.

Tickets cost R80 (kids under 12 enter free) and are available at the door at Hyde Park Corner and online at www.webtickets.co.za. With so much to see and do. visitors can come back time and again and discover something new each time. What’s more, in a nod to the hipsters, visitors who cycle to the fair will receive 50% discount on the entry price!

For more information www.foodwinedesign.co.za

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By applying their creative vision to craft projects, Durban-based sisters Janet and Angela Shaw hope to elevate the status of master craftsmen in South Africa. VISI love the contemporary energy that they are infusing into Zulu craft.

“In Japan and Europe master craftsmen are revered. Here it is seen more as part of the traditional realm,” says Janet Shaw, who is one half of the Shaw Sisters duo.

Together with her sister Angela, the two have combined their love for craft and design with a vision to change current perceptions around what it means to be a “master craftsman” in South Africa. In their opinion, master craftsmen should be accorded recognition equal to highly specialised professionals. Not everyone is blessed with the level of skill and talent to qualify them as master craftsmen, and the sisters take great pains to find the best with whom to collaborate.

Working with a spectrum of crafters from ilala palm and wire weavers to wood carvers and artisanal glass blowers, the Shaw Sisters brand has been responsible for overseeing the creation, production and marketing of a range of beautifully crafted and original pieces. Janet’s seperate venture, the Zulu Beadwork Project, operates in the same way but with a focus on beadwork catering to overseas fashion buyers.

For Janet and Angela the process of creating an object, from the seed of an idea to the final item, is the most fun and yet challenging aspect of their involvement. Getting to know the craftsmen and their skills, developing ideas, drafting technical specs, workshopping prototypes, and the time spent with the crafter through to final production, can be intense and take months. The majority of these crafters work in their homes or small workshops dotted around KZN, and many of their family members, seeing the benefits, have become involved too.

“It’s really tough to get each item produced to spec and of the highest quality. Even master craftsmen can take more than one attempt to get there ” confesses Angela. “But when they get it right it’s amazing!”

Their challenging briefs and unwavering standards of quality set the benchmark for an expanding community of crafters in KwaZulu-Natal. The fresh eyes and original ideas of these sisters have cleverly redesigned well-known traditional items such as wooden platters, woven baskets and beaded necklaces. New techniques in dyeing and raw materials have also been employed, with inspired outcomes.

“There’s such a wealth of talent and skills in KZN that we needn’t look elsewhere” they agree. They are kept busy enough by their local projects, so much so that this year the two sisters are having to restructure their business, with Janet managing the Zulu Beadwork Project full time, and Angela similarly taking the reins of the Shaw Sisters brand. Their shared vision remains though.

“It’s about changing perceptions of handmade products: their value, and the craft and commitment it takes to produce them,” says Angela. “Essentially we’re applying a greater economic vision to these traditional skills whereby an individual can be economically independent and empowered, and sustain themselves by their own hand.”

shawsisters.co.za

Read more of our articles about design, decor and architecture in Durban.

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Origami-inspired decor is everywhere these days. The ancient art of paper folding can be translated into everything from furniture to fine decorations. Get in on the fun yourself by folding napkins, table decorations, party invitations and fine decor for your home. Visit origami-instructions.com to find out how to make your own origami folding chair.

Originally published in Rapport Mytyd. Subscribe here.

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Lees in Afrikaans.

Umhlanga is home to a refreshing new all-South African design shop, writes our Durban correspondent Georgie Chennells.

Umhlanga has a new addition, and its not another bar! The traditionally pastiche seaside village-cum-holiday mecca has something more to entice the visitors this festive season, and just in time for the seasonal shop-a-thon.

Catalyst is the result of an usual collaboration between pharmacist David Fraser and interior designer Gareth Henderson (GIH Design). While David commissioned Gareth to expand and redesign the Medisport Pharmacy on the Umhlanga Village strip, a conundrum with a piece of leftover shop space allowed David’s other interest, beautiful things, to find expression. The two then went about developing the concept and sourcing products to fill the space.

There are two entrances to the Catalyst store: One off the outside plaza (by Calisto’s, a restaurant), and the more interesting entrance: through a room-size sliding door at the back of the pharmacy. What is immediately apparent is that this is not another polished palace of pillows and room fragrancers as tends to pop up in this area. It’s refreshingly unedited. The slider itself is made almost entirely of reclaimed timber sourced from pallets, as are the counters and wall claddings. An enormous imbuia-style ball-and-claw table takes centre stage, refurbished in black and aqua, while a neatly geometric system of modular shelves lines the walls, its copper plated struts zigzagging upwards.

Both David and Gareth are passionate about South African design and are adamant that Catalyst stocks only locally-crafted products. From Durban  there are painted baskets and giant crocheted poofs from the Shaw Sisters, printed botanical umbrellas from Clinton Friedman, Blossom bangles and accessories, luxury stationery from Alice May, bags from Wylder Jane, jewellery by Chey Michau and Nicky Savage, as well as Catalyst’s own range of grass place mats and garden seating. Of course pieces by GIH, such as the Gut-Punch light and the Deep Seat are meant as furnishing for the shop but can also be ordered.

Cape Town, Joburg, Knysna and Plett are also well represented with Adriaan Kuiters leatherwork, Potterseed ceramics, Skinny LaMinx textiles, Ilovani chopping boards, Tamelia bags, Pederson and Lennard seats, Joe Paine bird feeders, Sandra Godwin ceramics, Mungo towels and many more all playing together nicely.

Now, with no pun intended, let’s hope Catalyst is indeed the start of something good.

Catalyst / Medisport Pharmacy, Shop 11 Protea Mall, Umhlanga, 031 561 1227, www.g-i-h.co.za

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