Design Indaba opens entries for Emerging Creatives Programme

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Design Indaba’s longstanding Emerging Creatives Programme, which is supported by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, aims to unearth fresh local talent across a multitude of sectors.

A chosen group of 40 young architects, fashion designers, illustrators, furniture designers, jewellers, graphic designers, filmmakers, and multi-disciplinary mavericks from across South Africa will have the opportunity to showcase their work on the Design Indaba platform next year.

The final selection will be made by two curators, fashion designers Lukhanyo Mdingi and Ditiro Mashigo - both former Emerging Creatives themselves and well-placed to understand the needs of applicants and the programme.

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The programme, founded in 2005, is one of the country’s longest-running emerging talent support structures. It has helped launch celebrated and vibrant young designers such as Mpho Vackier, Laduma Ngxokolo, Katherine-Mary Pichulik, Neo Mahlangu, Andile Dyalvane, Russell Abrahams, Crystal Birch, Rich Mnisi and Thebe Magugu.

The programme aims to act as a career accelerator for its participants – identified as South Africa's future generation of designers - by providing them with a platform, support, education, and mentorship.

“We founded the platform 16 years ago to help young creatives who have relatively little industry exposure. We have a strong belief in nurturing new creative talent and knocking down the barriers to entry for those just getting started,” says Design Indaba founder Ravi Naidoo.

While the format of the programme has gone wholly digital because of shifts caused by the pandemic, it still offers opportunities for participants in the form of newly expanded online workshops hosted by industry experts.

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Once a designer is selected as an Emerging Creative, they will be featured on the Design Indaba platform and receive a year of prolonged national and international media exposure including online video, web articles and social media posts.

Interested parties can apply to become a Design Indaba Emerging Creative here. Submissions close on 30 October 2021.

For more:
www.designindaba.com