Design Indaba Nightscape: After-Dark Festival Fun

Every year South African creatives flock to the Mother City to take part in, be inspired by, and learn a thing or two from creative and design leaders across the globe as they converge at Cape Town’s Design Indaba, a three-day festival of talks, seminars, workshops and performances centred on the latest design and global trends.

If you don’t manage to bag tickets for the main daytime conference, fret not! There’s always Nightscape at Design Indaba – a three-evening series of immersive installations, films, exhibitions, musical and interactive performances from across Africa, for a fraction of the cost!

The venue is the Artscape Piazza, and it’s touted as “the future of creativity”.

Who’s Who on the Creative Block?

This year’s lineup includes a stellar array of poets, beatsmiths, performance artists and singers, including:

• Duce Duce (originally from the UK) draws on her graphic design and advertising background, plays montages of abstract images to enhance festival and musical experiences.
• Zaki Ibrahim (SA) combines her unique voice and soul-jazz style with a visual extravaganza.
• Crystal Wings (SA) a group of dancers in fantastical costumes create an atmosphere of alternative theatre.
• Moonlight Invasion (SA) features stilt-acrobats and dance-actors gliding among the crowd.
• DJ Steloolive (Ghana) an Accra-based sound and fashion artist who’s leading the electronic music scene.
• Alec Lomami (Democratic Republic of Congo) brings his Afro-pop to Cape Town.
• DJ Lady Venom (SA) adds her incredibly poetic style to the mix.
• Beat Sampras (SA) demonstrates how the marriage of two different musical styles can create something truly beautiful.
• Urban Village (SA) blends South African folk music with electric, funky acoustic melodies and traditional influences.
• Thor Rixon (SA) a producer and experimental artist who develops alternative sounds.
• Kajama (SA) this sister duo’s electro-music sound has been described as the future soul and Afrofolktronica.
• Darkie Fiction (SA) a duo that has exploded onto the South African music scene.
• Jakinda (SA) a beatsmith who explores Afro-futurism, black masculinity and spirituality through his music.
• Petite Noir (SA) brings his rich tapestry of American-rock influences and African shuffles to his haunting vocal melodies.
• Guy Buttery (SA) this internationally recognised, multi-instrumentalist and local guitar legend is guaranteed to amaze and impress.
• Shabaka and The Ancestors (SA) an award-winning eight-piece jazz band that’s bound to astound.

Food, Glorious Food

And while you’re feasting your eyes and ears on the numerous and outstanding performances at the Artscape Piazza, be sure to check out the exciting foodie experience on offer at this year’s Nightscape. The experience is a pop-up Chef’s Table collaboration between famed local chef, Bertus Basson, and food-experience designer, Hannerie Visser of Studio H, that merges food and design into a unique experience (21 to 23 February 2018).  

It takes place at the Artscape Theatre Centre.

Film Festival

On both nights, there’ll be screenings of design-orientated films at 6.30pm and 9pm. It’s free of charge for all those already attending Nightscape. Seats are on a first-come-first-served basis, so it’s wise to show up early.

Please note If you’ve already bought tickets for the Design Indaba Conference, you’ll have automatic entry into Nightscape. But, if you just want to attend the Nightscape activities, sans the conference, a two-day festival pass costs R375, while a single-night ticket costs R250.