This BA Hons Industrial Design (UJ) project began by Emma Zwart in 2018, and then continued into her MA Industrial Design (UJ) in 2019 under the supervision of myself and Dr Annemi Conradie, Senior Lecturer in Art History, North West Univerisity. Unfortunately, due to the impact of COVID-19, the project has been put on hold indefinitely but is still is a wonderful initiative that I am proud to showcase as an exploration of contemporary South African design identity through a design activist approach to collaborative furniture making.

Overview:

The Conversation Seat explores ways of expressing South African design identities through collaboration. More specifically, the project aimed to break down the perceived hierarchy of terms such as art, design and craft in order to showcase the diversity of creativity in South Africa. Despite its name, the Conversation Seat does not come complete with a seat. Instead, a bare frame was provided to participants for them to design, make and customise their own desired seat. Conceived with a variety of attachment points, the options are endless.

The frame is made of only round mild steel tubing, with an array of holes drilled through with indentations along the U-shaped sections of the frame. The frame stands 400mm high and 360mm wide. The form was originally inspired by African headrests and the deep connection between a headrest and its owner. The Conversation Seat sought to build a relationship between product and person in order to extend the seat’s lifetime and ensure a more sustainable product lifecycle.