This year’s #cocreateDESIGN FESTIVAL will gather at the Guga S’thebe Cultural Centre in Cape Town on 24 and 25 February 2020. The event will host two days of inspiring speakers, practical workshops, Oxford-style debates and networking receptions.
Towards Digital Inclusion
The 2020 theme is Towards Digital Inclusion, which will focus on the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and its impact on the creative industry. It’s hosted by The Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa in collaboration with the Craft Design Institute.
“Each year we select a theme based on the priorities set out by local and national government. In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a Presidential Commission on the 4IR to assist in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by 4IR. We hope to build on these developments by creating awareness and showcasing the application of innovation and design-led approaches,” says Sebastiaan Messershmidt, Consul General at the Netherlands Consulate General in Cape Town.
In keeping with the objectives of the event, Director of the Craft Design Institute, Erica Elk adds, “We are focused on issues of inclusion and transformation in the context of 4IR. We have a fantastic line-up of speakers and facilitators with whom we are designing an interactive and inspiring event to engage with this challenging aspect of 4IR. We hope to facilitate conversations between people who don’t always have the opportunity to spend time talking to each other. We want people to be motivated into action and have practical takeaways, leads and connections to continue co-creating on an ongoing basis.”
The open plenary session will be led by keynote speaker S’onqoba Vuba, co-founder and MD of Perpetu8, and member of the Presidential Commission on the 4IR. The festival will be MC’d by comedian Tsitsi Chiumya .
With respect to the venue, “Guga S’thebe is in close proximity to projects such as 16 on Lerotholi art gallery , Bridges for Music and Ikhaya Le Langa which helps create a festival precinct experience,” explains Robin Jutzen, Principal Catalytic Sectors Officer, City of Cape Town, and member of the Festival’s curatorial committee.
The festival is curated by an accomplished multi-disciplinary group of experts tasked with the role of guiding decisions around the format and content.
This year’s committee includes Ellen Fischat, Founder of Story Room and Inspiring Fifty South Africa Ambassador; Glenn Gillis , Co-founder and CEO of Sea Monster Entertainment; Chantal Lailvaux , Co-founder of AIHO, Mmaki Jantjies , Co-founder of Peo Ya Phetogo and Associate Professor at UWC; Nicholas Hall, CEO Interactive Entertainment South Africa and Founder Nick Hall Consulting; Vuyisa Qabaka, Partner at HYBR Group and Robin Jutzen, Principal Catalytic Sectors Officer, City of Cape Town.
What: #cocreateDESIGN FESTIVAL
When: 24, 25 February 2020
Where: Guga S’thebe Cultural Centre Cape Town
Info: www./cocreatedesign-festival-2020/
Draft program: http://cocreatesa.nl
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