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At Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026, one of the world’s most influential design platforms, a focused photographic exhibition is placing South African craft and design in the global conversation.
Curated by Garreth van Niekerk (multifaceted creative professional celebrated for his contributions as a curator, creative director, and advocate for African design) and Alan Hayward (who co founded the home decor store, Always Welcome), the presentation forms part of SaloneSatellite’s special pavilion, “Skilled Craftsmanship and Innovation,” which brings together contemporary makers from across five continents. Van Niekerk and Hayward are also executive creative directors of Decorex Africa.
South Africa’s inclusion at Salone del Mobile signals a growing recognition of the country’s design and craft sector as a serious and evolving field, rather than a peripheral or purely decorative practice.
The exhibition presents a carefully selected group of designers and studios whose work spans ceramics, textiles, beadwork and product design. Among them are Zizipho Poswa, Andile Dyalvane and Thabisa Mjo, alongside Ardmore Ceramic Art, The Keiskamma Art Project, and Monkeybiz. Their works reflect a range of approaches, but share a common emphasis on material knowledge, cultural memory and contemporary design thinking.
Key pieces include Poswa’s iUmthwalo, a large-scale ceramic work informed by Xhosa cultural traditions and the physical labour of women, and Dyalvane’s Isilawu (Purifying Herb), which draws on ritual and spiritual symbolism. Mjo’s lighting designs reference beadwork traditions and indigenous fibre techniques, translating these into contemporary forms. Textile work is represented by Frances v.H Mohair, while collaborative and community-driven practices are evident in contributions from The Keiskamma Art Project.
Distinctively, the exhibition is presented through photography rather than a conventional object display. Images by photographers including Inge Prins and Frances Marais highlight texture, scale and process, allowing the works to be experienced visually while also extending their reach beyond physical boundaries. This approach positions photography not only as documentation, but as an interpretive medium that shapes how craft is understood and circulated.
According to the curators, the intention is to present South African craft as a cohesive and dynamic field. Rather than focusing on a single aesthetic, the selection emphasises authorship, collaboration and technical skill. It also reflects how inherited techniques and local materials continue to inform new design languages, without being reduced to references or source material.
By situating this presentation within SaloneSatellite, van Niekerk and Hayward place South African makers within a broader international network of emerging and established designers. The exhibition argues for craft and design as vital contemporary practices that engage with history and place, while remaining relevant to current global design trends.
In Milan, where design often teeters into self-parody, this exhibition feels almost subversive in its restraint. Instead of decorating the space, it informs it, making you look again and think. The result is a visual representation of local design that reveals the intelligence of the hand, even when the hand itself is absent.
