Page 14 - Designing Ways 250

TRADE
WINDS

Phone home

A conversation-starting collection of telewire

pendants calls out to local design culture

habisa Mjo has done it again with The outcome speaks for itself, which is
an incredible new collaborative typical of Mjo and her stellar trajectory.
Tproject that focuses on telephone Mjo is the first local designer to have
wire weaving. The latest collection her work form part of the
is called Alfred’s Lights, and is permanent collection
a line of striking telephone of the Museum of
wire pendants. Mjo Decorative Arts in
worked closely with Paris, France. The
Elizabeth Joubert of museum acquired
interior design studio two of her pieces
Tin Lab, together with – the now iconic
master weaver, Alfred Tutu 2.0 lamp and
Ntuli - who is known for an eye-catching Mjojo
weaving geometric patterns cabinet.
with telephone wire, and a range of It is the landmark Tutu 2.0
other collaborators. lamp that rocketed Mjo to success.
Mjo, the founder of Johannesburg-based Because of this design, she jointly won the
studio Mash. T Design, has always been first-ever Nando’s Hot Young Designer
adamant that hers is a practice of African “We were so grateful that bab' Alfred (HYD) talent search. Mjo’s products are
storytelling through design. As her business agreed to work with us, as these designs featured in Nando’s restaurants across the
has grown, she has sought out collaborations saw quite a deviation from his usual work. globe. In 2019, she curated an exhibition
with artisans who use techniques that are Not only are these pendants on a larger of her own and other designer pieces at
quintessentially South African. “My aim scale, but they also bring in more pattern Milan Design Week, an initiative that was
is to merge these traditional production than his usual, restrained aesthetic. As sponsored by Nando’s and mentored by
methods with forward-thinking design,” usual, nothing we do is ever just a single Clout/SA Programme Creative Director,
she explains. person's efforts. From the management Tracy Lynch.
In this instance, telephone wire weaving is team at Bambizulu, who connected To help usher in a new generation of
a longstanding local artisan practice rooted us with bab' Alfred, to the artisans at local stars, the HYD competition is about
in the 1960s, when Zulu night watchmen African Art Centre, who helped produce to head into its fourth iteration, with a
started weaving scraps of telephone wire the pendants, and our collaborator, new Call for Entry to be announced early
around their traditional sticks. The practice Elizabeth Joubert, whose idea it was to in 2022. dw
became popular among Zulu communities, create a telephone wire pendant, the final
and today there is great innovation and product is a community effort - a result
creativity in the use of this medium. of everyone's hearts and skills,” says Mjo. www.mashtdesignstudio.com

14 Issue 250 • dw