From the moment attendees arrived at Levelthree Premium Venue in the heart of Kramerville, Sandton, the Craft and Design Institute’s (CDI) Making It! 2026 event buzzed with ideas, ambition, and craft.
Over two days, SA makers, designers, strategists, and cultural leaders didn’t just talk about scaling the creative economy. They experienced it through panels, workshops, screenings, and hands-on sessions that put craft at the heart of the conversation.
Heritage and ubuntu
Ceramic artist and Imiso Ceramics co-founder Andile Dyalvane’s opening talk invited the room into his world of hand-coiled terracotta and Xhosa tradition. Tracing how heritage could shape both artistic practice and enterprise, his message landed with quiet weight.
Dyalvane framed creativity as an act of shared responsibility, rooted in ubuntu and shaped through making, participation, and generosity.
His reflection lingered as a reminder that building something meaningful is never solitary, but a continuous act of carrying others forward while creating space for what comes next.
Emerging makers and seasoned founders alike leant in. For many, it wasn’t just inspiration, but a practical reframing of how cultural knowledge can be carried forward into sustainable, future-facing work.
Where legacy meets reinvention
Throughout the conference, the programme wove seamlessly between dialogue and practice.
Panels explored scaling local design ventures, expanding into global markets and preserving cultural continuity in modern practice.
The interplay between legacy and reinvention surfaced repeatedly — from beadwork and weaving traditions to contemporary fashion, spatial design and product development.
Discussions led by heritage practitioners, museum specialists and contemporary makers explored how traditional knowledge could evolve without losing integrity.
Rather than preserving craft as a static artefact, speakers positioned it as a living language shaped by new contexts, materials and audiences.
Fashion designer Marianne Fassler, weaver Beauty Ngxongo, Ndebele artist Sophie Mahlangu and SA Fashion Week’s Lucilla Booyzen shared stories of resilience and vision, connecting experience to action and demonstrating how growth can honour cultural and creative DNA.
MAKEshops in action
This dialogue was mirrored in practice through the MAKEshops, delivered by Imbali Visual Literacy Project, which provided a hands-on counterpoint to discussion.
In block printing, embroidery and weaving sessions, participants learnt directly from master makers, experimenting with materials and techniques, and leaving with work they had created themselves.
These workshops underscored a core theme: knowledge is protected by practising it, and craft thrives when shared.
A team from Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at the University of Cape Town led a high-energy design-dash that got creative sparks flying and participants looking afresh at their products and business service offerings.
Documentary storytelling and shared narratives
Documentary screenings brought narratives to life. Crafting a Living Heritage and Frances van Hasselt’s The Fabric of a Place revealed the painstaking labour and stories behind each product.
According to a CDI FB post, Motlatjo Mogoboya’s Crafting a Living Heritage was “the story of women in Limpopo preserving traditions through embroidery and turning their panels into living records of community history”.
And Frances van Hasselt’s The Fabric of a Place and Figures in Thread followed Van Hasselt (of Frances vH Mohair) “and her collaborations with women artisans in the Karoo, tracing the journey from raw mohair to textiles deeply connected to land, memory, and craft tradition”.
By the end of each screening, the room hummed with excitement — the recognition that the challenges and triumphs of making are shared across generations and geographies.
Each viewing naturally prompted dialogue, linking story to strategy and reinforcing the idea that craft is inseparable from context, culture and community.
Partnerships that opened doors
Partnerships amplified that impact, with iKhokha’s Maker Grant bringing 46 emerging makers, designers, and creative entrepreneurs into the heart of Making It! 2026, providing full conference access without cost.
They were joined by a further 18 emerging makers from all nine provinces, supported through a national incubation programme funded by the department of sports, arts and culture.
Their presence not only provided practical support, but was a visible statement: the sector’s future relies on creating pathways for those ready to step up.
These grants allowed recipients to participate fully in MAKEshops, panels and mentorship opportunities, seamlessly connecting them with the more experienced voices in the room and creating a living bridge between ambition and achievement.
The CDI also hosted a watch party in Cape Town, attended by more than 40 makers and a number of people joined online.
The cocktail reception at Katy’s Palace Bar marked 25 years of the CDI’s impact, transforming the historic venue into a space for connection, mentorship, and celebration.
Makers, founders and creative thinkers moved between conversations, and a very active dance floor, drinks in hand, sharing stories, advice, and laughter — proving a long-held CDI belief that the most important connections are made in the spaces in between.
Connection, celebration and collective growth
CDI CEO Erica Elk, host and driver behind Making It!, described the creative business journey as both personal and communal — a space where bridges are built across generations, geographies, and mediums of expression.
“It’s a living form of cultural currency and we are so proud that we were able to give expression to it over these two magical days.
“The two days [proved] that gatherings like these are so necessary ... we are already planning for Making It! 2027. Watch this space,” says Elk.
By the conference’s close, the energy was tangible. Two days of dialogue, making, and reflection had done more than inform; they had sparked action.
The two days [proved] that gatherings like these are so necessary ... we are already planning for Making It! 2027
— CDI CEO Erica Elk
Heritage and innovation intertwined in every conversation and workshop, while individual achievement met collective support in the shared moments between panels and MAKEshops.
Participants left carrying not only practical tools but a renewed conviction: SA’s creative economy is no longer emerging — it is ready to scale, rooted in culture, driven by craft, and propelled by the people who make it.
This article was sponsored by CDI.
Making It! 2026 was presented by CDI in partnership with iKhokha, with support from a network of public and private sector partners committed to advancing the country’s creative industries.
