ghana workshop 2012 - Design Network Africa

GHANA
WORKSHOP
2012
DEAR DNA
FAMILY
We at the Danish Center for Culture and Development, CKU (former DCCD) are
very excited to finally start up the second phase of Design Network Africa with
you at this first workshop in Ghana. Unfortunately the process had been delayed
due to new programme procedures in Danida, however, now we go for full speed.
It is our hope that we will be able to really prove the way forward and create good
business out of good design, work in a professional network where we are all
eager to make a change which matters, and where we together can create new
and exciting ways for both inspiration and business.
We are very happy that Source with Trevyn McGowan as our anchor, her team
behind her and our facilitators and media experts continue their marvelous work
with us.
Thank you so much all of you for joining the Network – together we can make a
difference.
Looking so forward to meeting with you again for the workshop in Ghana.
Best wishes
Vibeke Munk Petersen
Head of Culture and Development Programmes
Danish Center for Culture and Development.
DESIGN
NETWORK
AFRICA
DESIGN NETWORK AFRICA IS A DYNAMIC PROGRAMME
INITIATED BY CKU, FUNDED BY THE DANIDA AND
COORDINATED BY SOURCE.
THE SECOND PHASE OF THE PROJECT LINKS SIXTEEN
HIGHLY RESPECTED DESIGNERS FROM TEN COUNTRIES
FROM EAST, WEST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA WHO
HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THEIR DIVERSE VOICES,
SOPHISTICATED AND ORIGINAL PRODUCT AND UNIQUE
GLOBAL IDENTITIES.
After a pilot phase last year with 28
design companies, we have focused
down to a core group of talents who
we believe represent the vibrancy and
distinctive voice of the new African
identity.
The eighteen month programme has
been created to bring global retail and
media attention to the participating
companies, improve business strategy,
infrastructure and logistics, review
brand identity and expand current
product ranges. We want to encourage
collaboration and mentorship
between the designers, utilizing one
anothers manufacturing processes
and materials, resulting in a range of
new products and a true interchange
of aesthetics and narratives.
This is not a standard one size fits
all programme–rather directed at
identifying the specific areas of need
for each company - it is an immediate
and business orientated initiative to
reposition the design companies in
particular, and ‘African Design’ ‘in
conjunction, in the global arena.
SPEAKERS AND
FACILITATORS
Catherine O’Clery
Colleen
Pendleton
Creative director and award-winning journalist, Cathy is a
regular contributor to many international magazines and
newspapers. She started her journalism career as Features
Editor on World of Interiors becoming a leading authority
on the fabric industry. After moving to South Africa she
became prominent in the media as editor of Elle Decoration
and then Associate Editor of House & Leisure and House
& Garden. Her styling and writing has been syndicated in
books and journals across the globe.
Colleen Pendleton is an innovative professional with 25
years experience in strategic business planning, sales,
marketing and vendor development. With an extensive
background in the global home furnishings marketplace,
she has worked with a variety of artisan enterprises and
international buyers in targeted export linkages and she
has successfully managed all aspects of wholesale and
retail business development and management. Specific
areas of Colleen’s expertise include:
Cathy has also worked on product development with several
leading South African stores and has designed fabric and
soft furnishing ranges for St Leger & Viney and Bead. She
has curated design exhibitions like The South Africa House
and has created many award-winning stands at Rooms on
View and Decorex in South Africa and London.
Market development, Artisan Enterprise Development,
Enterprise capacity analysis, Market launch planning,
Social impact assessment, Production sourcing,
Sustainable practices planning, Export and Tradeshow
management.
cathyoclery@gmail.com
colleen-mercurymarketing@comcast.net
Elaine Belezza
JAC DE VILLIERS
Elaine Bellezza is a seasoned professional with over 20
years experience in artisanal sector development mainly
in but not limited to West Africa. She is committed to
developing entrepreneurship and supporting the vision,
capacity and vitality of entrepreneurs. Her experience
includes founding and running the largest artisanal
gallery in Mali as well as numerous artisanal consulting
assignments around the world. She currently is the
artisanal sector lead for the USAID West Africa Trade Hub.
Trained in film-making at the London College of
Printing, Jac De Villiers opened his photographic studio
in Cape Town in the mid 1970s. Specializing in portrait
photography, he photographed a diverse range of subjects
from Ian Botham, Jane Campion, Paulo Coehlo and FW De
Klerk to Gary Kasparov, Phillipe Stark and Richard Rogers
for the exhibition “Hands That Shape Humanity”.
ebellezza@watradehub.com
or
EMMANUEL ODONKOR
eodonkor@watradehub.com
www.watradehub.com and www.africa-now.org
“Portraiture is a complex affair where the photographer
shares a very intimate but brief relationship with someone
who is, more often than not, a total stranger. When I
prepare, I have a rough mental image of the result and
I try to create a narrative around my subject. Although
the staging can be controlled, the liaison is sometimes
unpredictable, often collaborative, always challenging. The
challenge to tell a story.”
Jac’s work has been published in Condé Nast Traveler,
Cosmopolitan, Elle Deco, Food & Wine, Harpers & Queen,
House and Garden, House & Leisure, Leadership, National
Geographic Traveller, Travel & Leisure and Visi.
jacphoto@global.co.za
www.jacdevilliers.com
MICHAEL COHEN
REBECCA HOYES
Michael Cohen is a management consultant specializing in
sustainable business development.
The British designer Rebecca Hoyes has worked with
leading European design companies and is currently
working with Habitat UK, developing textile and product
ranges which bring contemporary design to the British high
street. Her work shows a fascination with both traditional
and contemporary production processes and explores the
crossover between craft and digital manufacturing.
Through his experience with global corporations,
grassroots businesses and development agencies, he
has designed a progressive approach that integrates the
discipline of successful international companies with
an understanding of the practical challenges faced by
growing, small scale enterprises.
Michael’s practice features market analysis, strategic
planning, commercial capability development, operating
process design, marketing and trade facilitation.
Michael was born in Buffalo, New York. He was graduated
from Brown University with a BA History, magna cum
laude. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa and speaks
English, Spanish and French.
michael@africafair.com
In 2011 a project funded by the British Council looking
at cultural heritage enabled her to collaborate with silk
weavers and hand embroiderers to explore traditional
craft techniques and resulted in the creation of distinctive
product fusing traditional skills with a contemporary
design aesthetic. A working practice that involves
exploration of a technique or process combined with an
innovative approach to design ensures that her designs are
both directional and commercial.
Rebecca combines her time as a designer at Habitat with
lecturing at the leading design school Central Saint
Martins College of Art, London .
rebecca.hoyes@habitat.co.uk
www.habitat.co.uk
STEPHEN BURKS
TERRY BEHAN
Stephen Burks is one of the most recognized American
industrial designers of his generation. He and his New York
studio, Readymade Projects, have been responsible for
creative direction and industrial design on projects ranging
from retail interiors and events to packaging, consumer
products, lighting, furniture and home accessories.
Terry Behan is the CEO of VWV’s EMEA division. He hails
from Dublin, Ireland and has lived and worked in England,
Greece, Germany and South Africa. He is regularly called
upon as a spokesperson for the marketing industry and
is highly regarded and acknowledged as an expert on the
subject of branding. Behan is a former advisory board
member of the World Brand Congress, a board member of
the Southern Guild Design Foundation of SA, and a member
of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Readymade Projects have developed innovative concepts
for renowned international brands, including Cappellini,
Vitra, Missoni, Herman Millar, B&B Italia, Audi,
Estee Lauder, Ligne Roset and Swarovski, continuing
commitment to sustainable design in the developing world
through collaborations with Aid To Artisans, The Clinton
Global Initiative and The Nature Conservancy, as well as
his ongoing Man Made project.
Stephen has served on the trend board of the Cologne
Furniture Fair, is a recipient of the Illinois Institute of
Technology’s Professional Achievement Award, the A&W,
Architektur & Wohnen Audi Mentor Prize and the Target
Fellowship United States Artist Grant.
stephenburks@readymadeprojects.com
www.readymadeprojects.com
He has worked extensively with many of the world’s bestloved brands and his passions lies with architecting brand
experience solutions for clients globally.
tdbehan@gmail.com
Trevyn and
Julian McGowan
DNA is coordinated by Source, the primary developers
and exporters of Southern African Design to the global
marketplace. Since founding the company 10 years ago,
husband-and-wife team Trevyn and Julian McGowan have
been contracted to supply Southern African design product
to many of the major retailers around the world, including
the Conran shops, Anthropologie, West Elm, ABC Carpet
and Home, Bergdorf Goodman, Li Edelkoort, Jamie Oliver,
Selfridges, Liberty and many others.
In 2008, they founded Southern Guild, the foremost
collectable design gallery in South Africa, showcasing
one-of-a kind design pieces locally and internationally at
exhibitions including Design Miami, Design Days Dubai
and the London Design Festival. They also established
the Southern Guild Design Foundation, a non profit
organization aimed at bringing powerful change to the local
design industry.
trevyn@source-sa.com
julian@source-sa.com
www.source-sa.com
www.southernguild.co.za
MEMBER
PROFILES
Adele Dejak
Adèle Dejak’s line of inventive women’s fashion accessories has
its roots in the heart of Kenya, where she creates her unique
contemporary ranges of ostrich egg and West African bead sandals,
earrings, bracelets, Congolese kuba fabric and leather handbags,
and more. Ultra contemporary, yet rooted in African tradition,
her jewellery is intended to make a statement. Born in Kanu and
brought up in Cambridge, Dejak graduated in Typographic Design
from the London College of Printing and worked as Art Director of
the bestselling Italian Pop Magazine before launching her label in
Nairobi.
adele@adeledejak.com / www.adeledejak.com
Nulangee Design
A veritable explosion of newness, Babacar M’Bodj Niang’s designs
are as abundant as they are spectacularly multiform – from tables
with fragile bowed legs that look like a giraffe taking its first steps,
to moulded and plaited leather chairs with a pagan West African
sensuality. The adventure of Nulangee Design began about a dozen
years ago when Niang began working with wood and improbable
shapes, combining it with various materials – either recuperated or
natural (wood, leather, horn, fish skin) – to create objects charged
with identity. Today Nulangee’s contemporary furniture and fashion
accessories are distributed throughout the world for the pleasure of
fans and collectors.
babacar.niang.designer@gmail.com /
www.lixow.com/babacar_mbodj_niang
Le Ndomo
Boubacar Doumbia’s Le Ndomo textile workshop specialises in
natural fabric staining and dyeing techniques, drawing on traditional
Ndomo work habits of a shared collective as well as individual
responsibility – but with a modern twist. Doumbia has overhauled the
traditional model of youth apprenticeship in Mali by placing young
people in a central, entrepreneurial role from the outset. Rather than
simply training students in various methods of textile production,
such as bogolon (traditional mud cloth), he teaches them professional
and life skills, encouraging his apprentices to become self-sufficient,
independent, creative, and innovative. His model is highly sought after
within villages around his native Segou region and is expanding to
other organisations, both within and outside the artisanal field.
ndomomali@yahoo.fr / www.ndomo.net
Diallo DESIGN
‘I don’t have an interest in design if it is only to remake that which already
exists,’ declares Cheick Diallo, whose impeccably finished furniture and
objects are designed to interrupt rote perception with their mix of
ancient wisdom and modern sensuality. A wizardly creative risktaker, trainer and manager, Diallo trained as an architect and designer
in Paris, before establishing his studio in the suburban hills above
his birthplace, Bamako. There, a team of artisans works in semiorganised chaos to manufacture ecstatically chic domestic objects
from salvaged materials (bottle tops and computer batteries to old
tyres) riffing on notions of luxury. Diallo participated in the seminal
exhibition, Africa Remix, in London, Paris, Düsseldorf, Tokyo and
Joburg. He has exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair and at at Design
Biennales around the world.
contact@diallo-design.com / www.diallo-design.com
dokter and misses
Husband and wife team, Adriaan Hugo and Katy Taplin make up South
African furniture and fashion duo Dokter and Misses, which operates
out of Joburg producing a selection of furniture, lighting and innovative
interior objects. Inspired by the idiosyncracies of their surroundings, their
modernist furniture pieces with angular lines have a boldly upbeat
energy that makes them immediately desirable and very, very cool.
They opened their first outlet at 44 Stanley Avenue in 2007 and,
have now expanded to three outlets including CO-OP, a space in
Braamfontein in conjunction with Whatiftheworld Gallery, and a shop
in Cape Town with fashion designer David West. In a very short time,
Dokter and Misses have grown to be considered leading players in the
South African design industry.
info@dokterandmisses.com / www.dokterandmisses.com
Gone Rural
An accredited World Fair Trade Organisation, Gone Rural fully
embraces the new spirit of social and environmental awareness along
with the creative spirit of about 750 rural Swazi women to create of its
covetable décor products. Inspired by the vision of designer Philippa
Thorne, indigenous grass has been transformed into a globally sought
after range of products. Innovative and soulful, Gone Rural’s exquisite
range of homemade woven accessories is in constant development as
innovative designs and techniques are introduced to keep things fresh
and dynamic.
phil@gonerural.co.sz / www.goneruralswazi.com
Hamed DESIGN
INTERNATIONAL
‘I’m always working to bring out a design that reflects the realities of
Africa,’ says painter and furniture designer Hamed Outtara of his wildly
original mixed media furniture pieces. ‘My goal is to provide a key point
in a continent which suffers from imports and all kinds of imitation
furniture, especially of poor quality and which does not reflect our culture.
As inspiration from traditional furniture carved by our artisans is
disappearing, my work makes a difference and is a modern African design
luxury.’ Having trained in accountancy, Outtara’s switch to being an artist
and designer proved to be a sound decision; he has exhibited widely – from
Bilbao, Spain to Miami, USA – and supplies his products to France, Spain,
Switzerland, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
hameddesign23@yahoo.fr / www.coroflot.com/hamedouattara
HEATH NASH
Heath Nash, who holds a BA in Fine Art (sculpture) from the
University of Cape Town, was the Elle Decoration SA designer and
lighting designer of the year in 2006, has been in business since 2004
making products with a uniquely South African, environmentally
conscious edge and a playful spirit. His range, ‘Other People’s
Rubbish’, a gloriously lighthearted example of his recycling, is made
from plastic bottles and galvanised wire. He draws inspiration
from the idea of ‘designing with a conscience through limitations in
design’. In 2010, he won an eco-lighting award judged by Ingo Maurer
at Finland’s premiere interiors show, Habitare. He has, for several
years, been working with grassroots artisans around Southern Africa,
forging productive learning exchanges.
elevator3000@mweb.co.za / www.heathnash.com
IMISO
Andile Dyalvane and Zizipho Poswa are the winning team behind the
Imiso Ceramics Studio. Located in a buzzing Woodstock atelier, Imiso
is known for its handmade collectors’ items and exquisite functional
ceramic ware. The Xhosa word ‘imiso’ means tomorrow, and their
designs are distinctly African with a future-minded edge, drawing
inspiration from local culture, tradition and nature. In addition to
their store at the Old Biscuit Mill, their products are stocked at a wide
variety of independent retailers and the bulk of their exports are to
New York, London, Paris and Milan.
info@imisoceramics.co.za / www.imisoceramics.co.za
KITENGELA
HOT GLASS
Sea glass vessels, crushed ice coffee tables, a constellation of glowing
orbs, magically twisted jewel-coloured goblets… all form part of the
huge range of expertly blown and produced glass pieces from Anselm
Kitengela’s Hot Glass Studios. Each piece is unique, 100 percent
recycled and 100 percent Kenyan. Anselm Croze trained in Holland
with glass masters Willem and Bernard Heesen, before opening his
studio in a red-bricked dome bordering the Nairobi National Park,
where he now employs 35 people. ‘This is where the magic happens,’ he
says. ‘Our dome has more than 1 000 glass stars inset into the ceiling
in an accurate rendition of the night sky. It’s a real planetarium.’
anselm@kitengela.com / www.kitengela.com
Kpando POTTERY
Inspired by the passion of designer Joseph Nii Noi Dowuona, 70
talented Ghanaian women shape rich clay into striking contemporary
pieces featuring sensual, organic forms and tactile surface detailing.
Kpando Pottery is named after the region known for distinctive
pottery made by local women, often with their babies by their side. The
business grew out of the Aid to Artisans’ Ghana project and now
exports its innovative designs to Europe and North America. The clay
is shaped without a potter’s wheel, and the unique black patina finish
is created by firing their pieces over a bamboo bonfire instead of using
a clay oven. Ancient wisdom truly ignites contemporary beauty.
kpandopottery@yahoo.com / www.kpandopottery.com
MARJORIE WALLACE
Having graduated with a degree in painting from Michaelis School
of Art at the University of Cape Town, Marjorie Wallace is a gifted
ceramic artist who produces fine porcelain objects, which she
scratches, presses and incises with linear designs and decoration. ‘I
have loved baskets since I was quite young. I have memories of the
people who made them, how they sat and where they collected the
grass – what they were looking for when they collected it. We had
baskets hanging on the wall in the house, and we used them,’ she says.
‘When I started decorating pottery I thought more and more about
baskets, how they look and how they are woven. They too are vessels.
I saw my task as being no different from the basket makers. They too,
are women, leading a domestic life.’
wallace@zol.co.zw
Mutuba
Based in Kampala, Mutuba designs, produces and markets fashion and
home accessories (laptop sleeves, handbags, writing cases…) crafted
from bark cloth. ‘The material we work with is an indigenous fabric,
previously relegated to ceremonial functions and petty curios. We
make innovative and functional products out of this fabric,’ says
trailblazer Sara Katebalirwe, who launched her company back in the
Eighties. ‘Bark cloth is harvested from a (Ficus Natalensis) fig tree
which regenerates its bark and can be harvested annually, making it
ecologically sustainable.’ The company, which now has more than 50
product designs, provides training in tree planting and bark cloth
processing (skills which were dying out), as well as equipping artisans
with production skills.
sara@mutuba.com / www.mutuba.com
RONEL JORDAAN
Inspired by the fluency and serenity of nature, Ronél Jordaan
uses natural fibres, mostly 100 percent merino wool, to create her
imaginative collection of rock cushions, pebble ‘riverbed’ carpets,
delicately nuanced ‘falling leaves’ wall hangings, floral patterned
throws and more. Entirely self-taught and following her own creative
instincts, she began to turn fine gossamer thread into robust felted
forms, which found an immediate market. Her range is continually
expanding, from accessories, scarves, shawls and wraps to household
objects, carpets, lamps, and throws. Her label can be found in outlets
ranging from Canada, to the US, London, Paris, through Germany, the
Netherlands and Italy.
ronel@roneljordaan.co.za / www.roneljordaan.com
SABAHAR
Sabahar is an Ethiopian company that produces hand woven textiles
to wear- such as scarves and shawls as well as fine textiles for your
home such as cushions, throws, blankets, tablecloths and placemats.
Sabahar is also a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Sabahar buys locally-produced Eri silk from farmers as well as
Ethiopian cotton in the markets, spin it, dye it and then hand weave
the locally-sourced thread into beautiful textiles. Buying a Sabahar
product means you support a truly Ethiopian product, cared for by
skilled artisans at each stage of the process. All of our products are
individually hand spun on drop spindles and spinning wheels, hand
woven on traditional looms and many of our products are naturally
dyed with flowers, trees, insects and plants. We sell both in Ethiopia
and export to more than 10 different countries.
Email: sabahar@gmail.com / www.sabahar.com
TEKURA
Known for its contemporary interpretations of legendary Ashanti
and Fanti cultural artistry, each of Tekura’s beautiful and functional
furniture designs in wood is created by master artisans under the
direction of Josephine and Kweku Forson. Tekura’s respect for
heritage and quality of life extends to the environment, with pieces
being produced exclusively from carefully selected wood found lying
on the ground following reforestation. Tekura currently exports to the
US, Canada, Holland, Brazil and the UK.
tekura@designtekura.com / www.designtekura.com
SCHEDULE
WED/
THURS
WEDNESDAY 17TH OCT
Time
Full group talks - all facilitators
9.00 - 9.15
Vibeke Munk Petersen
9.15 - 10.00
Trevyn McGowan
10.00 - 11.00
Michael Cohen
11.00 - 11.15
Coffee break
11.15 - 12.00
Cathy O'Clery
12.00 - 12.45
Elaine Belezza
12.45 - 1.45
LUNCH
1.45 - 2.30
Colleen Pendleton
2.30 - 3.15
Rebecca Hoyes
3.15 - 3.30
Coffee break
3.30 - 4.30
Stephen Burks
4.30 - 5.30
Terry Behan
5.30
Trevyn McGowan - wrap up
THURSDAY 18TH OCT
Time
DNA planning + small group facilitation
9.00- 10.15
Terry Behan workshop
10.15 - 11.30
10 min talk by each of the 16 particpating design companies : “plans and goals for my company, what
would I like to achieve through DNA”
11.30 - 11.45
Coffee break
11.45 - 1.00
10 min talk by each of the 16 particpating design companies : “plans and goals for my company, what
would I like to achieve through DNA”
1.00 - 2.00
LUNCH
2.00- 6.00
Small group and ‘one on one’ sessions with the various facilitators + photography/interviews.
timetable to be issued 15.10.12
SCHEDULE
FRI/SAT/
SUN
FRIDAY 13TH OCT
Time
Small group facilitation
9.30- 1.00
Small group and 'one on one' sessions with the various facilitators + photography/interviews.
timetable to be issued 15.10.12
1.00 - 2.00
LUNCH
2.00- 5.00
Small group and ‘one on one’ sessions with the various facilitators + photography/interviews.
timetable to be issued 15.10.12
5.00 - 6.00
Full group catch up session
SATURDAY 15TH OCT
Time
Studio visits and continuation of collaboration projects
9.00 - 11.00
Studio visit to Tekura
12.00- 1.00
LUNCH
1.00 - 3.30
Small group and 'one on one' sessions with the various facilitators + photography/interviews.
timetable to be issued 15.10.12
3.30- 5.00
Full group catch up session
SUNDAY 16TH OCT
Ongoing collaborative projects
CONTACT
DNA coordinators
HOTEL
TREVYN MCGOWAN
LA PALM ROYAL BEACH HOTEL
info@designnetworkafrica.org
Mobile: + 27 82 825 6697
Location: No. 1 Bypass, Accra
Main Telephone: +233 (0) 302 215100
Email: lapalm@gbhghana.net
www.gbhghana.net/la-palm
LEZANNE VAN HEERDEN
lezanne@designnetworkafrica.org
Mobile: +27 82 490 6747
www.designnetworkafrica.org
DNA HOSTS
WEST AFRICA TRADE HUB
ELAINE BELEZZA
ebellezza@watradehub.com
+233.21.782.231
EMMANUEL ODONKOR
eodonkor@watradehub.com
+233.302.773.39