Design minded
Zayd Minty, editor, Creative Cape Town Annual 2010,The World Design Capital Bid 2014 Issue In our inaugural Creative Cape Town Annual, published in 2009, we introduced you to our very active and creative Cape Town Central City. We sketched out Creative Cape Town’s decision to place its key support behind design in the next few years with such lead projects as the East City Design Initiative and World Design Capital bid. We recognised in our work the importance of design as a cross cutting area of support to reach a wide range of creative industries in the city. We showed too how this focus on design could build on the gains of the massive infrastructure developments brought by the 2010 World Cup – not just changing the way we use the city, but also how we position the city to the world. Importantly we suggested our local distinctiveness is the strongest raw material we have in positioning us as a creative capital. The response to the annual was brilliant, both from advertisers and readers. A total of 6,000 copies were distributed free to creatives, politicians, the media and business leaders. Delegates at the 2009 Loerie Awards were the first to receive the annual. We have continued our relationship with this vibrant awards event by not only launching the 2010 edition during the Loeries again, but creating a whole new event, Creative Week Cape Town, aimed at showcasing the creativity in the city. Since last year our work has grown in leaps and bounds. We now have a very popular Facebook presence, a regular e-newsletter, a well-liked creative clusters programme. Via the special edition of City Views, focussed on Creative Week Cape Town, we plan to reach many new audiences. Through our work we helped foster the Cape Town Design Network, an organisation responsive to the needs
of local designers. We also created the space for cultural stakeholders in the Company’s Garden to find a common agenda. The city centre has seen ongoing growth of creative eventing. Highlights so far this year include the Spier Contemporary, which radically changed people’s perceptions of the City Hall, bringing more than 20,000 people to an exhibition of South African contemporary visual culture, over two months. We also saw the appointment of a dynamic new director for the Iziko South African National Gallery, Riason Naidoo, and a new CEO for Iziko Museums, Rooksana Omar. The wonderful Fugard Theatre opened in the East City and is the new home for the theatre company Isango Portobello. The design store Church opened in the East City as did the Open Innovation Studios. The East City Design Initiative has grown in significance and interest. Die Antwoord, a sub-cultural music group became a global sensation courtesy of the “interweb” outperforming any South African band in history internationally. This year’s edition of the Creative Cape Town Annual is dedicated to Cape Town’s bid for World Design Capital 2014. We launched our bid at this year’s Design Indaba, four months before the 2010 World Cup. We continued to work extensively behind the scenes prior to and during the World Cup, recognising that the event’s success will spur people to look for more ways to keep inspired and connected in and for the city. Win or lose, we believe the bid process itself will be highly beneficial, not just for the creative community but also to the city as a whole. We value your engagement with it. Zayd Minty