The creative glory of the Design Indaba Expo continues with …
Luminous, ethereal lights made from discarded milk bottles.
Although trained as a sculptor, Heath Nash created his own brand of functional, beautiful pieces made from other people’s trash. My favorites were the butterfly/flower lights shown above, made from (have a look at other milk jug lights here and here). He also creates wall hangings, baskets and candleholders made of discarded wire. Nash employs local artisans to build many of his pieces although the design is his alone. Check out his story and his blog for more details.
Nuno Felt
Although Nuno (Japanese for ‘fabric’) doesn’t have a website, their products are well worth a second look. Made of 100% South African mohair, Nuno trains and employs local crafters to make jewelry, scarves and the sweetest felted stuffed animals. Designer Sue Kingma can be contacted at sue4nuno@mweb.co.za.
If you’re a stationary fan, beware: Mü & Me makes some of the sweetest cards, journals, paper and notebooks around. Featuring sweet illustrations of children and animals, each character has a name and fully “lives” in the creator’s imagination (for additional clarity on that point, see here). Like many of the talented artisans at Design Indaba, Mü & Me can be found at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock … but they also have a lovely e-comm shop as well.
A relatively new enterprise, Township Cotton utilizes traditional South African patterns to create sturdy, beautiful fabrics. Their website (as well as their studio) are under construction at the moment, but be sure to check back for photographs and for additional information on their community empowerment initiatives!
SocialVibe