I was reading the fabulous
House & Leisure that the lovely
Ann sent me last year, and read the ed's letter for the first time. Because the entire issue is dedicated to South African design (Nov 2007), Lianne Burton (the ed) was commenting on South African design as a whole. She had just been to the London Design Festival, and was struck by something special about SA design: she said that is has soul. I think she hit the nail on the head. I think that's what I appreciate about South African design too. I was looking around my house and see that I surround myself with two kinds of things- the modern/contemporary and then things that have a story, like an old travelling case with hangers and boxes inside, or a fabric block print from India. These are objects with soul, and South Africans seem to pass that quality into their work too.
Of course, I have a special connection with it, and appreciate it in other cultures too. But it gives me the warm fuzzies to share South African design with other people from my homeland, and of course, anyone else who reads my blog!
PS: I promise, less soppy stuff later this week ;)
2 comments:
My house is full of stories, sometimes I think, too much. Love to be around all my memories.
Greetings from a very cold South Africa.
I must agree! And I think most "third world" countries have that soul. I bet even the fabric block print from India has soul. I reckon it's something about the well designed, efficient first world that strips the design from it's soulfull quality. But that's just a hunch. ; )
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