Design Indaba’s Emerging Creatives Class of 2022

This unique developmental programme offers gifted young creatives a platform to gain exposure and grow their careers

Emerging Creative 2022 | Luke Rudman (2022) by Luke RudmanOriginal Source: Design Indaba

Luke Rudman

Luke Rudman is a visual artist from Gqeberha

Emerging Creative 2022 | Luke Rudman (2022) by Luke RudmanOriginal Source: Design Indaba

Born in 2000, Luke is currently obtaining his undergraduate degree in fine art at Nelson Mandela University. His body of work includes a variety of traditional and non-traditional approaches to artmaking, including performance art, photography and painting. 

He makes use of multiple approaches within the creation of a single artwork. 

Emerging Creative 2022 | Luke Rudman (2022) by Luke RudmanOriginal Source: Design Indaba

His work is often autobiographical and unconventional and speaks to Queerness and the Queer aesthetic. Some of Luke’s more notable projects contain strong themes of environmentalism – a narrative which has historically excluded Queer perspectives. 

Emerging Creative 2022 | Luke Rudman (2022) by Luke RudmanOriginal Source: Design Indaba

Luke has worked in collaboration with Greenpeace Africa for the last three years. Between 2019 and 2021 Greenpeace Africa invited him to create and perform artworks for their Protect-the Oceans campaigns. 

Emerging Creative 2022 | Mona-Lisa Mthethwa by Design IndabaDesign Indaba

2. Mona-Lisa Mthethwa

Mona-Lisa Mthethwa describes herself as inquisitive, determined and creative.

Emerging Creative 2022 | Mona-Lisa Mthethwa by Mona-Lisa MthethwaDesign Indaba

As an architecture graduate from Near East University, Mona-Lisa Mthethwa describes herself as inquisitive, determined and creative. She has worked with Peter Bond & Associates, Six Plus One and the Ubuntu Design Group. 

Emerging Creative 2022 | Mona-Lisa Mthethwa by Mona-Lisa MthethwaDesign Indaba

She believes that the field of architecture can be used as a tool to bring about sustainable change, cultural identity and diversity in the lives of communities. She is a passionate learner and seeks to grow through her interactions with others. 

Riyaadh Ismail profileDesign Indaba

Riyaadh Ismail









Riyaadhs Yaad is a streetwear fashion house, focusing on inclusivity, culture, sustainability and tailoring.

Riyaadh Ismail 00007Design Indaba

Riyaadh Ismail is the founder and creative director at Riyaadhs Yaad. Riyaadhs Yaad is a streetwear fashion house, focusing on inclusivity, culture, sustainability and tailoring.

Riyaadh Ismail 00001Design Indaba

Riyaadh is also a freelance stylist, costume designer and creative director. It is vitally important to him to be involved in every single aspect of his passion for timeless garments and art.

Noxolo Mbombela Realm 1Design Indaba

Noxolo Thando Masuku









Noxolo graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a degree in architecture

Noxolo Mbombela Realm 2Design Indaba

Noxolo Thando Masuku was dubbed with three birth names that form a beautiful sentence, meaning Peace, Love for Days/at Night. She was born on 17 February 1996 in Springs, Gauteng, but grew up in the small yet booming city of Nelspruit (now known as Mbombela) in Mpumalanga. 

Noxolo Mbombela Realm 5Design Indaba

She graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a degree in architecture. Currently, she is exploring a different sphere of the design world and has embarked on a journey to obtain a degree in Visual Multimedia Arts from the University of South Africa. 

Noxolo Mbombela Realm 3Design Indaba

Noxolo aims to envelope herself in as many domains within the art and architecture fields as possible. Her need to create is driven by the hopes of designing for people. She is captivated by the narrative that transpires between people and the built environment around them.

She understands this relationship as a symbiosis that happens organically. She credits designers for their ability to unify the natural and built worlds.

Leila PortraitDesign Indaba

Leila Walter









Leila Walter is a Cape Town-based Weaver and Artist

Leila Striation RugDesign Indaba

Leila Walter is a Cape Town-based Weaver and Artist. Her creative journey has wound through many artistic media, guided always by curiosity for materials and the underlying structures of creative production. 

Leila Thar HangingDesign Indaba

She graduated from the UCT Michaelis School of Fine Arts in 2014 with a BA in Fine Art. She produced a diverse body of work that included a wide array of materials and processes. 

Leila Spine BlanketDesign Indaba

Following graduation, her professional practice shifted to film, where she gained a deep understanding of the power of art as a narrative tool in the fields of both advertising and independent filmmaking. 

Leila Monastery ThrowDesign Indaba

After a transformational trip to the Far East in 2018, the divergent threads of her practice and lifelong love of textiles were woven together to form the brand Crosspolynations. 

Originally conceived as a platform to celebrate traditional textile practices and producers, the brand has developed into a hand-weaving studio specializing in one-of-a-kind, functional art textiles using locally sourced, natural fibres and ancient craft practices.

Buhle NkalasheDesign Indaba

Buhle Nkalashe


Buhle Nkalashe was born in 1994. This Cape Town-based independent artist has been practicing since 2011. He is a painter who incorporates mixed media like oil paint, acrylic paint, and oil pastels into his work. 

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