24–25 March 2026 • Kramerville Design District, Johannesburg
Speakers
8:00 am
-
9:00 am
- Kramerville Design District
Registration Open
9:00 am
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9:15 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Opening Remarks
Making It! ’26: A Playground for Makers
Craft & Design Institute CEO, Erika Elk, will open the conference, setting the tone for a vibrant few days where ideas meet opportunities, creativity sparks action, and innovations reveal new territories in craft and design.
9:15 am
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9:45 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Keynote
Crafting Legacies: Heritage as a Blueprint for Future Design
A keynote by master ceramic artist & designer Andile Dyalvane
Guided by a profound spiritual connection to his Xhosa ancestors, Andile Dyalvane creates intricate, large-scale ceramic works that serve as vessels for honouring his cultural heritage and expressing his personal journey of healing.
- Andile Dyalvane
9:45 am
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11:00 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
The Power of Partnerships
At a time when cohesion feels both urgent and necessary, this session invites us to see partnership not simply as a strategic tool, but as an ongoing practice rooted in shared purpose. Through candid conversation, cultural practitioners and institutional leaders will explore the transformative potential of partnerships across sectors. They will reflect on how building trust, aligning values, and sustaining partnerships beyond a single project can unlock new resources and expand collective impact.
- Dawn Robertson, Ntshuxeko Manganye, Shado Twala, Vukani Mnyandu
11:00 am
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11:30 am
- Kramerville Design District
Comfort Break
11:30 am
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12:45 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Custodians of Craft: Preserving Culture in Fast-Moving Design Economies
How can craft traditions remain relevant, preserving cultural memory while inspiring the future of design? This session invites dialogue on sustaining both tangible and intangible heritage in a fast-moving economy. Heritage practitioners, artists, cultural custodians, and designers will explore how tradition and contemporary design intersect in their practice, serving as a vehicle for ethically reviving legacies, transmitting knowledge across generations, and fostering evolving aesthetics that will shape design for years to come.
- Beauty Ngxongo, Dr Motsane Seabela, Mbali Mthethwa
11:30 am
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12:45 pm
- Weylandts, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Against Trends: Consumer Behaviour & Designing Beyond the Cycle
How are trends shaped, and what possibilities exist outside of them? This conversation explores how brands and makers can move beyond short-lived trends to better understand consumer behaviour and develop intentional, lasting design strategies. The discussion will examine what it means to defy trends, how practitioners are carving out new methods of working, and how we can reshape our relationship to trends to create more sustainable cycles of making and production.
- Bielle Bellingham, Irene Vermeulen, Khensani Mohlatlole, Ntombi Khambule
12:45 pm
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1:45 pm
- Kramerville Design District
- Break
Lunch & Screening
Crafting a Living Heritage by Motlatjo Mogoboya will be screened during lunch.
Over the past twenty years, a group of women from Mogalakwena in Limpopo have been preserving their cultural heritage by documenting their knowledge and experiences of local traditions through embroidery. They began creating embroidered panels as a way to sustain themselves while recording aspects of their community’s traditional lifestyle, including food recipes and detailed bridal practices. The film examines these panels as a form of living heritage and gendered memorialisation, arguing that they preserve the history and cultural practices of Mogalakwena through visual art. It also highlights how this work contributes to post-colonial and post-apartheid South African history and collective memory.
1:45 pm
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3:00 pm
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Carving Out a New Frontier: Where Design Meets Technology
Where new technologies—AI, robotics, biofabrication, XR, and digital fabrication—intersect with craft and design, this session highlights how these innovations are expanding the possibilities of creative practice. From reimagining materiality and production techniques to pushing the boundaries of making, panellists will showcase forward-thinking approaches, experimental methods, and the exciting opportunities and challenges of integrating cutting-edge technology with both traditional and contemporary design processes.
- Jon Savage, Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt, Nthati Machesa, Sinegugu Ngxongo
1:45 pm
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3:00 pm
- Krammerville Design District
Makeshop: Block printing
Beginners block printing makeshop facilitated by the Imbali Visual Literacy Project
Imbali uses innovative, applied learning approaches to teach art, design, and critical thinking to youth, the unemployed, and people with disabilities. The organisation also supports the professional development of creative arts teachers, particularly in underserved communities. Guided by the belief that art and creativity are powerful tools for social change, Imbali promotes creative entrepreneurship as a pathway to opportunity and empowerment.
Registration on the day, limited to 15 participants.
- Justine Watterson, Lungani Mogale
3:00 pm
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4:15 pm
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Material Matters: From Source to Innovation
This session explores how indigenous and locally sourced materials, ranging from hemp and wool fibers to recycled resources, can become less extractive through innovative practices and sustainable design applications. Through discussions of ethics, responsible sourcing, circularity, and material responsibility, it highlights how designers and communities are collaborating to transform material use and production while developing new ways of working that honour both people and place.
- Carlyn Frittelli Davies, Cyril Naicker, Mahlatse Mohlala, Sanskruti Shukla, Wacy Zacarias
3:00 pm
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4:15 pm
- Weylandts, Krammerville Design District
- Conversation
Morning Sessions Late Edition: Embodied Futures
Presented by Design Week South Africa, a conversation with Simone Schultz of Design Week South Africa and Monika Bielskyte, Founder of Protopia Futures, Futurist in Residence at Nike and a partner of African Life-Centric Design. Monika Bielskyte works at the intersection of culture, technology and speculative futures.
- Monika Bielskyte, Simone Schultz
4:15 pm
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8:00 pm
- Katy's Palace Bar, Kramerville Design District
- Cocktail Evening
Making It! ’26: Where Makers Meet
A celebratory evening for delegates marking 25 years of the Craft & Design Institute and its lasting impact on South African craft and design.
8:00 am
-
9:00 am
- Kramerville Design District
Registration Open
9:00 am
-
10:15 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
The Brand Playbook: Story, Strategy & Market
With insights from leading business and marketing experts, this session invites creative entrepreneurs to strengthen their brand, market presence, and impact. Speakers will explore how to craft compelling brand stories, refine business models, and apply creative tools and principles to confidently shape and communicate a distinctive brand point of view.
- Beth Arendse, Heidi Brauer, Janet Kinghorn
9:00 am
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10:15 am
- Weylandts, Krammerville Design District
- Panel
Morning Sessions: The Shape of Us
Presented by Design Week South Africa, Mpho Vackier, founder of TheUrbanative, will join Eloise Thompson, Creative Director of Studiolandt, for a conversation exploring what The Shape of Us means to them. Drawing on their respective practices, the session will reflect on our diverse cultural heritage and how these perspectives inform the way we design for the future.
Moderated by Margot Molyneux, Design Week South Africa
- Bielle Bellingham, Margot Molyneux, Mpho Vackier
10:15 am
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11:30 am
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
On the Pulse: Young Entrepreneurs Online
On the pulse of today’s digital landscape, young entrepreneurs share how they’re leveraging online platforms, social media, and digital communities to grow their brands, expand their global reach, drive sales, and build lasting connections. This session highlights their experiences and strategies, from content creation and SEO to marketplace engagement and community-building, showing how to turn online potential into real world success.
- Dave Duarte, Kerry Balshaw, Kopano Makino, Michelle Constant, Thulani Masebenza
10:15 am
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11:45 pm
- LevelThree Rooftop, Krammerville Design District
- Workshop
Design Dash
Hosted by the Hasso Plattner d–school Afrika*, participants will be introduced to a methodology, or mindset, that facilitates innovative solutions to problems and operates at the interface of human values, business, and technology. The Design Thinking approach will encourage participants to engage with the convening programme and their practice from a practice-led and solutions-based perspective.
Register on the day, limited spaces.
- Tiego Monareng
11:30 am
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12:00 pm
- Kramerville Design District
Comfort Break
12:00 pm
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1:15 pm
- Kramerville Design District
- Workshops
MakeShop: Embroidery
Beginner embroidery makeshop facilitated by the Imbali Visual Literacy Project
Imbali uses innovative, applied learning approaches to teach art, design, and critical thinking to youth, the unemployed, and people with disabilities. The organisation also supports the professional development of creative arts teachers, particularly in underserved communities. Guided by the belief that art and creativity are powerful tools for social change, Imbali promotes creative entrepreneurship as a pathway to opportunity and empowerment.
Register on the day, limited to 15 participants
- Justine Watterson, Nthombizodwa Mahlangu, Portia Thenjwayo, Thato Ntoula
12:00 pm
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1:15 pm
- LevelThree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Market Routes and Momentum: Growing Your Business Locally & Globally
Discover how businesses can scale across markets by leveraging international partnerships and collaborations. Topics covered will include pricing strategies, customer segmentation, and export readiness, alongside insights on growing brands globally, reaching new audiences, and navigating cross-border opportunities to expand sustainably.
- Fran Stewart, Glorinah Mabaso, Lucilla Booyzen, Tamburai Chirume, Tracy Lynch
1:15 pm
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2:30 pm
- Kramerville Design District
- Break
Lunch & Screening
The Fabric of a Place by Frances van Hasselt will be screened during lunch.
Fabrics literally weave a story about the history of a place. The very reason as to why they exist; the materials used, who made them and how, documents a moment of time. It is on us to educate the future designer to recognise the responsibility and privilege we have to make, preserve and conserve. This film aims to capture the everyday life of a mohair farm and textile studio in the Karoo; An ancient land, our dependence of prehistoric ecosystems, our connection to nature and community and how we try to thread these stories of people, places and spaces into textile forms.
Produced by Playbox Studio (Florence) and Frances van Hasselt
2:30 pm
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4:30 pm
- LevelThree Rooftop, Kramerville Design District
- Workshop
MakeShop: Weaving
Waste and found material weaving makeshop facilitated by the Imbali Visual Literacy Project
Imbali uses innovative, applied learning approaches to teach art, design, and critical thinking to youth, the unemployed, and people with disabilities. The organisation also supports the professional development of creative arts teachers, particularly in underserved communities. Guided by the belief that art and creativity are powerful tools for social change, Imbali promotes creative entrepreneurship as a pathway to opportunity and empowerment.
Register on the day, limited to 15 participants
- Justine Watterson, Nthombizodwa Mahlangu, Portia Thenjwayo, Thato Ntoula
2:30 pm
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3:45 pm
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
The Impact Era: Designing for a Changing Planet
A forward-looking discussion on how material choices and design processes respond to the ecological realities of our time and shape planetary futures. As climate pressures and resource constraints reshape how we make and produce, designers are rethinking sourcing, production, and value. This session explores regenerative and circular approaches, ethical supply networks, and the opportunities of working with scarce and innovative materials, and how these strategies can help creative practice move beyond sustainability toward renewal.
- Erica Elk, Katherine-Mary Pichulik, Marianne Fassler, Simphiwe Mlambo, Thuli Gamedze
3:45 pm
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5:00 pm
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Panel
Funding the Future: Grants, Investment, and Sustainable Pathways
From grants to investment and innovative methodologies, experts will guide participants on accessing sustainable growth opportunities in the craft and design sectors. The session will examine ways to protect and future-proof businesses through insurance and risk management, while encouraging new approaches to funding and self-sufficiency. Attendees will be invited to explore alternative pathways to build resilient and thriving creative enterprises.
- Junior Mlondobuzi, Khanya Mpuang, Mars Massai, Prof Emmanuel Nkambule, Tom Mkhwanazi
5:00 pm
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5:30 pm
- Levelthree, Kramerville Design District
- Closing Remarks
Imibono: Tracing Sophie Mahlangu’s Journey
Join Msoziswa Sophie Mahlangu, master Nzunza Ndebele artist, and Shado Twala, Chairperson of the Craft & Design Institute, for a reflective closing conversation celebrating Sophie Mahlangu’s extraordinary career and the growing legacy of her life’s work.
- Khobongo Petrus Mahlangu, Msoziswa Sophie Mahlangu, Shado Twala