South African Decor and Design is the theme at Southern Guild’s curated showcase return to Design Miami this December. Running from the 3rd until the 8th of December 2024 at Convention Centre Drive and 19th Street, Miami Beach. Southern Guild is exhibiting in booth G28. This new show features pieces by twelve African artists who are redefining the global ceramics scene. The presentation explores the medium’s ancient roots while highlighting innovative perspectives on form, technique, symbolism and function. Featured works include furniture, sculpture and vessels by leading ceramic artists, such as Belinda Blignaut, Andile Dyalvane, Madoda Fani, Ian Garrett, Chuma Maweni, Jabulile Nala, Ben Orkin and Zizipho Poswa.
When speaking of South African Decor and Design, ceramics hold a distinctive place across the African continent, standing as one of its most enduring and culturally significant art forms. Ceramic objects reflect advancements in technology, shifts in belief systems, ritual practices, aesthetics and everyday life, offering insight into changes in geography, history, politics and society. In Africa, ceramics provide a tangible connection to pre-colonial culture and its often underrepresented narratives. With its profound connection to land, ecology and humankind’s origins, clay is an energetic and ancestral lifeline for the artists in Southern Guild’s exhibition. King Houndekpinkou – whose ritualistic vessels use clay sourced from Paris, Benin and Japan – describes clay as “the oldest, most profound encyclopaedia”. The medium is a materialisation of his animist beliefs and syncretic worldview, which blends Japanese Shintoism and Beninese Voudou.
The anthropomorphism that is intrinsic to this age-old craft form echoes throughout the vocabulary of forms on show at Design Miami, as the exhibition seeks to expand the medium’s applications while honouring its deep roots as a life-sustaining vehicle of expression.
