The Italian Embassy in South Africa, the Italian Consulate General in Johannesburg, the Consulate of Italy in Cape Town and the Italian Cultural Institute of Pretoria celebrated the 8th edition of the Italian Design Day – the annual appointment dedicated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to design and architecture “Made in Italy” – through a series of events from 18 to 20 march 2024. These events saw as the protagonist Marva Griffin, founder and curator of Salone.Satellite and Ambassador of International Relations at Salone del Mobile.
This year’s theme, “Manufacturing value: inclusiveness, innovation and sustainability”, focused on the importance of the production process and its capacity of creating industrial design objects that are “beautiful” from an aesthetic point of view, but also of high “material” value, as a result of quality raw materials and manufacturing processes that combine tradition and craftsmanship with technologies and environmental sustainability. Especially in this edition, the IDD allowed to effectively promote in South Africa Salone del Mobile of Milan, which will take place from 16 to 21 April 2024 and represents one of the most important events for the furniture and design industry globally.
On the morning of 18 March, Marva Griffin took part to a meeting with interior design, industrial design and architectur students at the University of Johannesburg, managed by the Italian Consulate General in Johannesburg. In the evening, the Consulate General organised also a convivial event with selected representatives of the sector at the multi-storey showroom entirely dedicated to Italian furniture “Il Lusso”.
On 19 March, Marva Griffin gave a lecture at the Faculty of Architecture and Industrial Design of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria, opened by the Italian Ambassador in South Africa Alberto Vecchi. During the event the two winning students of the design competition – designed specifically by the faculty’ for the Italian Design Day 2024 – were awarded.
Then, Marva Griffin went to Cape Town, where on 20 March the Italian Consulate organized a seminar entitled “SaloneSatellite: Connecting Design since 1998”, at the Slave Church, with architecture and design students from different universities in the city and local architects, followed in the evening by a convivial event with designers and industry experts.
