On Friday the CEO of SEDCO (Small Enterprises Development Company), Dorrington Matiwane and the Director of Yebo! Art & Design, Aleta Armstrong signed an MOU for the Swaziland Art & Design Expo (SADE). This event will take place from mid August to the end of September this year. It will exhibit work by 14 fine artists Yebo represents and work by 20 artisans affiliated to SEDCO. Read the article online here.
SADE will feature contemporary fine art, sculptures, furniture, textiles, carpets, lights, posters, cards, ceramics, baskets and home décor by local artists, designers and artisans.
The artists are the trendsetters, coming with modern and innovative concepts that will inspire the country! The top five artisans from each region will exhibit their range of products at the expo along with the artists. Yebo designers will meet with artisans at the Inkhundla centers, view products, make a final selection and also give design advice on final products
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All the artisans work will be for sale during the expo. The artisans will be able to also get orders for their work and get commissions for other designs. Their contact details and bios will be available to all visitors and online.
Yebo artists and designers will host two free talks and question and answer sessions on the topics of design, sculpture, textiles and marketing during the exhibition which all artisans are invited to
SEDCO CEO Dorrington Matiwane said “SEDCO supports and is adding value to local SMES knowledge and marketing by bringing their products to a contemporary art & design exhibition featuring Swaziland’s best artists and designers. They will be part of an expo that showcases innovative Swazi design and encourages the public and the corporate sector to buy and appreciate Swazi design and art, both traditional and contemporary. It is good example of private sector and government cooperation. The expo will be invaluable opportunity to show artisans and SMEs how to improve their design and marketing skills by working together with top designers in the creative sector.”
Yebo Director Aleta Armstrong said “I am so excited at this partnership. This idea came to me when I was reading about the successful Design Indaba in Cape Town and I thought why don’t we start the same concept here in Swaziland? Obviously this first one will much smaller in scale, but it has the potential to grow and become a successful annual event. I’m very thankful to SEDCO for supporting this dream and coming onboard as sponsors! I hope that local businesses will visit the expo and be inspired by the range of local designed and made furniture, art, textiles and décor and actually order and support the Buy Swazi Campaign. I have noticed in the fine arts that 95% of our sales are to visitors and we ship overseas, its time Swazi’s start appreciating the creativity that is happening in their own country!”