Sindiso Khumalo: Design Indaba Exhibition Africa Is Now 2014

Self-confessed "textile nerd", Sindiso Khumalo draws on her Zulu and Ndebele heritage to create fashion with a contemporary sensibility and graphic use of pattern.

“I use visual references from these cultures a lot in my work,” says the fashion designer, who creates her own textile prints.

Born in Durban, South Africa, she now lives and works in Hackney, London. Khumalo creates bold garments and accessories inspired by Zulu beadwork and Ndebele patterned-walls. Although still very much connected to her motherland, she believes the cultural diversity and cosmopolitanism of her new home is influential in her creative work too.

“What drew me to fashion is my strong interest in creativity and the arts,” says Khumalo.

Khumalo studied architecture at the University of Cape Town before moving to London to work in the office of renowned architect David Adjaye. She cites the Bauhaus Movement as a strong influence in her work – in particular, its use of colour and emphasis on line and pared-down forms.

At Africa Utopia in London, Khumalo showcased two collections, Spring/Summer 2013 and Autumn/Winter 2014. Her Spring/Summer 2013 collection is influenced by the market place and taxi ranks in Durban: “All the chaos and collision of colour and craziness that exists there is interpreted in this collection,” she explains.

The Autumn/Winter 2014 collection reveals Khumalo’s interest in the rituals practised in African countries before missionaries arrived on the continent. She looked to Nigeria and West African culture in particular: “The collection is an interpretation of what people in these countries wore during religious practices,” she says.

Khumalo believes that Africa is alive with newfound independence and freedom. “People want to hear the positive stories from Africa and I believe that is what is drawing people, not only to the African fashion story, but the African story as a whole."

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.