The V&A Waterfront is getting ready for its annual festive season display, free from the restrictions of the past two years. It will again work with local artists and crafters to put on a show of decor installations that will give visitors a warm welcome to Africa.
Joy From Africa To The World, now in its fourth year, continues to grow as a source of inspiration and a call to action for visitors and tenants alike to act responsibly and safeguard the environment. This year the call-to-action is built around the theme of nostalgia, reflecting a moment in time when the world is yearning for a return to happy, simpler times.
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Through the initiative, the Waterfront will continue to shun traditional imported tinsel and baubles and plastics for its festive decorations, which so often end up in landfill sites. Choosing instead to creatively repurpose and present fresh, original installations every year. Since 2019, artists and crafters from Langa, imiZamo Yethu, Mitchell’s Plain, Kayelitsha, Philippi, and as far afield as the Karoo, the Eastern Cape, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Senegal have all accepted commissions to work with local, sustainable materials.
Since its inception, the collaboration with creatives has grown to create 155 jobs and now supports many small local design and craft businesses of which majority are owned by women. The eight NPOs and SMMEs have participated in the creation of the theme.
Tinyiko Mageza, the V&A Waterfront’s Marketing Executive says, “We give financial support to the many individuals and communities who create our exciting installations, but by exhibiting their work on our property we also offer them a very powerful marketing platform. We are one of the most visited destinations on the African continent, and this upcoming festive should give our crafters the opportunity to showcase their work and open new markets for them.”
This year, activations will be in place from December, and will remain up until mid-January 2023.
“The emphasis of our celebration is on nostalgia. We have drawn on our past heritage to inspire us in the present, and to give us hope for the future. We believe the displays this year are truly extraordinary and we are certain that visitors will agree,” Mageza said.
Visually, Joy From Africa To The World will be bold, bright and fun. Stylistically, the campaign moves away from basketry to showcasing Africa’s heritage of innovative textiles and pattern design, and this year’s display has bursts of bright colours, indicative of a more hopeful future.
The theme for 2022 is ‘where possibilities take flight’ and nowhere will this be more evident than in the walkway above the Pick n Pay basement, where visitors will encounter a giant hot air balloon suspended from the ceiling with books and soft toy people leaping out of it. A number of colourful beaded creatures can also be spotted parachuting out of the balloon.
The basket section of the hot air balloon was created by the Cape Town Society of the Blind.
The fashion link mall will also sport a dramatic new look thanks to the collective efforts of talented South African designers and illustrators. Textiles printed in unique patterns and designs have been combined with beading, paper maché, lights and other crafts to create an unexpected sophisticated look.
llustrator Kyle Kemink has been commissioned to create a detailed and nuanced photographic collage of the experiences, emotions and moments at the V&A Waterfront.
In the walkway above the Woolworths basement, custom patterns printed on panels are interwoven with wire suns, beaded lettering and lampshades strung together in a series of carefully placed cascades.
Fabric and textiles will also be the hero at the Watershed where many of the tenants have participated by creating a colourful display of rope-like chandeliers.
KnotAgain founder Hlah Nyoni said they created the macramé structures by weaving recycled T-Shirt material and polyester cord.
No festive season is complete without a Christmas tree. This year the V&A’s giant tree is a collaboration with Lalela, an innovative arts education programme for at-risk youth, who commissioned their young students to draw self-portraits that will be placed all around it.
Kids can also, look forward to a fun and exciting experience at the Waterfront Wonderland, a fantasy journey through a rocket ship, a sleigh pulled by beaded reindeers, a pirate ship and Father Christmas’ own festive taxi.
Families can also step in and out of three two-metre-tall books, each reflecting the magic of storytelling and this year’s pillars of heritage, hope and inspiration.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery
