Contents
- 1 Sifiso Shange Shares How His Designs Reflect Zulu Culture
- 1.1 Interior Design: What drew you to become a furniture and industrial designer?
- 1.2 ID: Describe your background and your earliest design memory.
- 1.3 ID: What shapes your inspiration most as a designer?
- 1.4 ID: You are the founder behind the design studio Afri Modern. Why was starting a brand important for your craft?
- 1.5 ID: Shape plays a large role in your work. How do you bring these beautiful pieces to life?
- 1.6 ID: Would you share more about the exquisitely detailed symbols and colors in your work?
- 1.7 ID: What materials do you use within your practice?
- 1.8 ID: What inspired your current projects Mholi Wendlela and Msizi Wesiwe?
- 1.9 ID: What challenges have you faced as an industrial designer?
- 1.10 ID: What have you been working on lately?
Msizi Wesizwe.
Designer Sifiso Shange, founder of Afri Modern, a Johannesburg, South Africa-based multi-disciplinary studio, has one substantial mission: To preserve his ancestry and tradition through his work. Shange’s vivid furnishings and industrial designs celebrate his Zulu heritage with bold symbols and forms, each holding a deep significance, such as the diamond shape. This mark appears in most works created by the designer, which he says embodies the feminine, particularly the mother. For him, it’s a way of honoring the women in his culture.
While most of his creativity is focused on making designs that take on bold geometric forms, Shange has a fresh approach to doing so: He uses lean-steel base structures that aid the support of woodwork, granting them a unique aesthetic. The designer also possesses an innovative approach to color, which nods to his heritage while enticing clients, a perfect plan to command allure.
Though Shange’s prominent inspiration is his Zulu culture, he is also inspired by global events from politics to faith and public figures. His recent work Mholi Wendlela, which means “The Path Leader,” tells the story of South Africa leadership and features a Zulu shield-shaped console of three variants and colors. While Msizi Wesizwe, meaning “The Nation Helper,” honors nation builders. Interior Design speaks with the designer about his creative journey, building his brand, and making eccentric designs inspired by culture, leadership, and faith.
Sifiso Shange.
Interior Design: What drew you to become a furniture and industrial designer?
Sifiso Shange: I think my love for being a furniture designer started from a young age. I’ve always been interested in how individual products interacted with each other in spaces and with humans. This fascination grew, and I eventually pursued my calling in design by creating products inspired by my culture. Ever since, my journey has been filled with beautiful lessons that have gifted me with the opportunity to grow and learn with every project and design idea. To be honest, the journey is a reflection of the life process; it is not linear but fulfilling with what it comes with. I strongly believe that perspective is the core of the journey.
ID: Describe your background and your earliest design memory.
SS: I was raised in the vibrant, beautiful coastal city of Durban, South Africa, where, from a young age, I loved sketching cars, clothes, cartoon characters, and imagery objects. My love for drawing would lead me to pursue my studies in design through a close friend of mine, Hoosen, who believed I was good at it. My journey has been filled with a lot of grace and kindness. I appreciate all the love and support I’ve received from my family, friends, the industry, and all the clients who have believed in me.
Liduma Lidule.
ID: What shapes your inspiration most as a designer?
SS: I’m deeply inspired by being alive, the feeling of living and the everyday experiences that inspire the stories I tell through design. Some are inspired by past experiences, history, and the present, and some are crafted by imagining the future through the lenses of my culture.
ID: You are the founder behind the design studio Afri Modern. Why was starting a brand important for your craft?
SS: Afri Modern was founded to tell stories about the human experience using Zulu cultural references as a way of preserving my culture. The essence of our work is to share stories that we can all see ourselves in, reimagining African design and dressing it with modern elements. Afri Modern is a lifestyle and a way of thinking; it is also a contemporary African way of life that celebrates who we are and our stories. Over the years, we’ve made designs that told different stories which are in sub-sections: love stories, respect stories, faith stories, patience stories, and unity stories.
Msizi Wesizwe.
ID: Shape plays a large role in your work. How do you bring these beautiful pieces to life?
SS: The process of creating the shapes is inspired by two elements: The first is from the geometric shapes found in Zulu beadwork jewelry and the second is the story inspiring the shape and form of the product. This relationship is beautiful because it marries the story and product together harmoniously.
SS: All the pattern motifs are inspired by Zulu beadwork patterns, and the pattern motifs narrate the story in a symbolic form. As for why I use such bold colors in my work, the first reason is that I love color and how it makes us feel; the second is that the bold colors all come from a Zulu beadwork point of view, and third is to give clients and projects a unique product to them through the colorway.
Mholi Wendlela.
ID: What materials do you use within your practice?
SS: I generally work with natural timbers and locally-sourced steel. Sometimes, I expand to materials that a project requires for the best results in terms of look, feel, longevity, and sustainability.
ID: What inspired your current projects Mholi Wendlela and Msizi Wesiwe?
SS: Mholi Wendlela means “The Path Leader,” which is inspired by the path leaders, those who lead with love, care, respect, honor, and integrity. The pattern story expresses the story using Zulu beadwork-inspired motifs. On the other hand, Msizi Wesizwe means “The Nations Helper,” and is inspired by the helpers of the nation, those who help with love, care, respect, honor and integrity. The pattern story expresses the story using Zulu beadwork-inspired motifs.
Mholi Wendlela Blue variant.
ID: What challenges have you faced as an industrial designer?
SS: The challenges that I face as an industrial designer are usually technical and financial. I do believe that these challenges have shaped me to become more innovative and dynamic in how I approach the design process, which has allowed me to grow with every project.
ID: What have you been working on lately?
SS: Luhle Uthando – Love is Beautiful is a design story series that is inspired by the power and beauty of love. The story explores the beauty of love as an act that can bring out the best in all of us, exploring how love can be the solution to a better world for us all.
Liduma Lidule.