The Xigera Design Collection
Meet the makers
Cape Town, South Africa
Adam Birch
Birch spent seven months on site at Xigera carving more than 150 large-scale timber sculptures for the lodge. He worked alongside a team of local carpenters, training them in woodworking skills that will stay with them for life. A passionate environmentalist based on Cape Town’s South Peninsula, Birch takes a trunk-to-twig approach.
Cape Town, South Africa
Chuma Maweni
A master of hand-thrown ceramics, Chuma Maweni makes exquisitely crafted ceramic vessels and furniture from his studio in Cape Town. Chuma was born in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. He traces his interest in ceramics to his earliest memories making clay figures of bulls and cows on the muddy riverbanks. Guests will interact with Chuma Maweni’s distinctive ceramics in almost every part of the property. Comprising more than 70 pieces, it is his largest single body of work to date.
Cape Town, South Africa
Otto du Plessis
Otto du Plessis is primarily a sculptor, specialising in figurative bronze work. He is the co-founder of Bronze Age Foundry in Cape Town, who are responsible for an extraordinary amount of custom-made metalwork at Xigera Safari Lodge. The studio’s orientation towards nature-inspired imagery is everywhere on display at Xigera, whose interiors are adorned with unique botanical designs. The team turned architect Anton de Kock’s lily-inspired design for the main lodge fireplace into reality.
Meet the makers
Gone Rural, artisan weavers
Started in 1992 for rural women across Eswatini, as Swaziland is now known. A local business of 30 people evolved into a company providing income for over 731 women, supplying woven basket products to over a thousand retail outlets in 32 countries. Gone Rural has become a globally recognized model of socially responsible business that promotes understanding and respect for cultural heritage.
Cape Town, South Africa
Charles Haupt
Charles Haupt was born in 1980 in Johannesburg and graduated from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology as an industrial designer in 2001. Working closely with Otto du Plessis, he has spearheaded the functional design side of Bronze Age Studio.
Product designers
Dokter and Misses
Husband-and-wife team Adriaan Hugo and Katy Taplin are Dokter and Misses, a multi-disciplinary product design company. Their respective industrial and graphic design skills combine to create work described as “modernist, where strong construction lines and a bold use of colour create graphic shapes and spaces.”
Cape Town, South Africa
Madoda Fani
Madoda Fani is the eldest of five siblings born in 1975 and raised in Gugulethu, a township on the outskirts of the infamous Cape Flats in Cape Town. His works draw on inspirations from his Xhosa heritage.
Meet the makers
Ngwenya, glass mouth-blown glassware
A broad selection of Ngwenya glasses have been used across dining areas and suites with distinctive ranges selected for each space. The glassware in the boma features double-dipped details – evocative of the of the delta. Various glass ranges including the straight range and wonky ranges were designed by Trevyn and Julian McGowan of Southern Guild.
Cape Town, South Africa
Stanislaw Trzebinski
Born in Kenya, Stanislaw Trzebinski works in Cape Town. He is a very accomplished sculptor and young designer with a large collector following. He is inspired by natural patterns and underwater growths. He is prolific, exceptionally talented, willing to experiment in new materials, and a perfectionist at heart.
South Africa
Gillian Fuller
In its present form, Gillian Fuller The Brand, started when she graduated with a Fine Art degree from Newcastle University, UK, having specialised in textile design. After moving to South Africa, she became aware of the local skill of beading. The inspiration for her designs comes mainly from the environment, particularly an urban landscape where architectural shapes suggest a myriad of ideas.
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Mantua Silkwear
Mantua Silkwear is designed and manufactured in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and inspired by the colourful heartbeat of Africa as well as the ethereal luminosity of silk and how it transforms to the body. As a counterpoint to disposable fashion, the Mantua Collection of silk scarves is trans-seasonal and beyond trends, weaving stories inspired by the eclectic pattern and colour of Southern Africa.
Meet the makers
Southern Guild, Cape Town, South Africa
Founded in 2008 by Trevyn and Julian McGowan Southern Guild commissions, produces and exhibits contemporary collectible design by the most compelling talents in South Africa. The gallery has pioneered the collectible design category on the continent, propelling its artists and designers to make original work that is distinctly African and globally relevant.
Discover more artists
Cape Town, South Africa
Andile Dyalvane
Andile Dyalvane is the most recongnised South African ceramicist and ranked amongst the top 5 ceramicists in the world. Born in 1978 in the small village of Ngobozana, near Qobo-Qobo, he grew up farming and looking after his father’s cattle herd – sewing a deep connection to the land and his Xhosa culture that resonates powerfully through his work today.
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Ardmore
The Ardmore studio is home to over 70 African artists whose ceramic works have been recognised as modern day collectables by the world’s most eminent auction houses. Ardmore Design has also emerged, creating vibrant and sought-after fabric collections, including a collaboration with renowned French fashion house Hermès.
Cape Town, South Africa
Atang Tshikare
Born in Bloemfontein, Atang Tshikare makes narrative-laden work inspired by his deep connection to his Sotho and Tswana roots. His drawings and sculptures spring from his fertile imagination and Interest in African mythology. While he began as an illustrator, his work has expanded into new materials such as bronze, clay & wood.
Cape Town, South Africa
Conrad Hicks
Widely considered South Africa’s foremost artist blacksmith, Conrad is a deeply philosophical artist who has long immersed himself in the history of human evolution and anthropology. His work is extremely labour-intensive, transforming solid pieces of metal into new expressive forms.
Johannesburg, South Africa
David Krynauw
Johannesburg based woodworker, David Krynauw was born in 1984 in Piet Retief, a forestry town in Mpumalanga. He grew up sharing an enormous passion for wood and woodwork with his father
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost sculptors of the animal form. Born in Johannesburg in 1964, he is now based in Stellenbosch, just outside Cape Town, where he has established the Dylan Lewis Studio and Sculpture Garden.
Meet the makers
Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, Ghana
The essence of A A K S design philosophy is a complex combination of thoughts, design element which come from a critical attention to craftsmanship, authenticity and ethical values in their production ; while having a strong sense of identity and quality. Each collection silhouette is unique and tells a different story through detail, colour and shape.
Cape Town, South Africa
Jesse Ede
A self-taught designer, every new project sees him taking on a new design challenge and adding to his repertoire of skills. Born in Cape Town in 1985, he has worked as an artisan all around the world, including a long stint as a carpenter for a boat-building company in Antigua.
Cape Town, South Africa
John Vogel
John Vogel is an architect-turned-designer whose work connects people to the natural world. He is one of South Africa’s foremost furniture designers, whose work has helped define a distinct vernacular. His designs have become local classics, evolving a language of nature-inspired forms that are highly contemporary
George, South Africa
Meyer von Wielligh
Abrie von Wielligh and Norman Meyer co-founded Meyer von Wielligh, a carpentry and design studio based in George, in 2004. Their large-scale functional art pieces are all intricately crafted, reflecting the organic lines and intricate textures of their natural surroundings on the forested Garden Route of South Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa
Porky Hefer
Porky Hefer is amongst the most significant African designers. He was born in 1968, in the era where Radical Design emerged. Inspired by the idea of biomimicry, Porky Hefer sees his work as part of an interconnected system of artisans making the most sustainable use of local resources.
Cape Town, South Africa
Xandre Kriel
Cape Town designer Xandre Kriel creates limited-edition furniture through the use of simple geometry. The aesthetic appeal of shapes is his motivating force, and for nearly 11 years he has found a balance between working with the tactile properties of wood and the technological processes involved in steelwork.
Cape Town, South Africa
Zizipho Poswa
Zizipho Poswa’s unique ceramics vessels are bold declarations of African womanhood. The Cape Town-based artist is inspired by her Xhosa heritage. Her work has been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).