Design Indaba 2014

Design Indaba held its first Africa is Now exhibition at Design Indaba Expo 2014 and a second one in 2015. For 2016 the exhibition is renewed as Africa. Now. with an emphasis on the contemporaneity of the concept.

The exhibition distills the ongoing research that Design Indaba conducts and publishes in its online publication through the year and for its annual event. It signals a fundamental shift that sees us actively seeking out new voices and talent on the African continent in the fields of design, art, music and film and promoting it through our platform.

Each iteration of Africa. Now. is a central feature at Design Indaba Festival. Although the thematic focus of the show evolves from year to year, it is always a snapshot of creative work being produced across the continent – an up-to-the-minute survey of emerging, established and unexpected talent from across Africa. It is not a retrospective of a typecast past nor a utopian vision of an imagined future. It reflects the Africa that is.

Contextual solutions that have sprouted from the fertile creative soils of Africa are in demand worldwide, redefining the traditional exchange between the so-called first and third worlds. Underpinning the narrative of "Africa Rising" are myriad real-life solutions and design innovations springing from the lived experience of different communities annd countries in Africa. Africa. Now. unearths these innovations, both high and low tech, made by design professionals, artisans, engineers, architects and laymen. Greater connectivity and access to technology is empowering creatives on the continent to speak back, now more than ever, by rejecting the descriptions that have historically defined Africa, in the process setting new benchmarks for growth and innovation.