Xavier with Zizipho Poswa and Rich Minsi
Julie with Mdoda Fabni, Rich Mnisi, Zizipho Poswa and Jomo Tariku
When we first discovered Zizipho Poswa and her incredible African totems at the 2022 Paris Biennale, Xavier and I were literally captivated by her work. That was the starting point of our desire to create a lodge centered around art. We let the idea mature for a while and agreed that it would be wonderful to try and bring together artists from across the African continent for a single project, forming a sort of personal collection that would become the very soul of the lodge.
Ultimately, we brought together 10 African artists and acquired 42 works, which are displayed throughout the lodge as a common thread, weaving through the main living spaces and the 12 tented suites. We were fortunate enough to meet 5 of these 10 artists during the lodge’s inauguration in October 2025, and it was a truly unique moment of connection, filled with emotion, joy, and laughter.
Julie & Xavier on the Lion of Porky hefer
The Artists’ Safari Team!
Ultimately, we brought together 10 African artists and acquired 42 works, which are displayed throughout the lodge as a common thread, weaving through the main living spaces and the 12 tented suites. We were fortunate enough to meet 5 of these 10 artists during the lodge’s inauguration in October 2025, and it was a truly unique moment of connection, filled with emotion, joy, and laughter.
ZIZIPHO POSWA
Zizipho Poswa is a contemporary South African artist and ceramist born in 1979 in Mthatha, Eastern Cape. Her sculptural work, primarily in ceramic and bronze, is rooted in a profound reflection on identity, cultural memory, and the place of women in society, in close dialogue with Xhosa traditions. Through monumental and organic forms, notably inspired by ancestral hairstyles and rituals, she develops a visual language that is both powerful and refined. Today, Zizipho Poswa is exhibited on the international stage and represented in numerous public and private collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, affirming her major role in contemporary African creation.
RICH MNISI
Rich Mnisi is a South African creator born in 1991 in Johannesburg, who has established himself as a major figure in contemporary design by blending fashion, art, and sculptural objects into a deeply narrative and cultural practice. Trained at the LISOF School of Fashion, he founded his eponymous brand in 2015, where he explores the tensions between Tsonga heritage, queer identity, tradition, and modernity through collections that play with shapes, textures, and colors in an avant-garde manner. His work transcends the boundaries of clothing to include functional and sculptural pieces exhibited in international galleries and fairs such as Design Miami and the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, while also being showcased in solo exhibitions like Nyoka and Dzuvula, which reveal his singular vision of duality, memory, and transformation. By combining local craftsmanship with contemporary experimentation, Rich Mnisi asserts a powerful aesthetic that celebrates African narratives and redefines the dialogue between fashion, art, and global culture.
JEAN SERVAIS SOMIAN
Jean Servais Somian is an Ivorian artist and creator based in Côte d’Ivoire, whose work lies at the intersection of art and contemporary furniture. Working primarily with wood, he designs unique pieces—tables, seating, and furniture-objects—conceived as artworks in their own right, where function dialogues with form, gesture, and material. Trained in Côte d’Ivoire, he developed a sensitive and demanding practice, attentive to proportions, textures, and the physical presence of objects within a space. His work is not a matter of standardized furniture, but of an artistic creation rooted in utility, intended for singular interiors and collectors. Today, Jean Servais Somian presents his pieces in exhibition and sales contexts in Côte d’Ivoire, notably in Abidjan, as well as to international collectors and galleries.
MADODA FANI
Madoda Fani is a South African ceramist and artist born in 1975 in Gugulethu, Cape Town, and initially trained in graphic design at Sivuyile College. His work draws deeply from his Xhosa cultural heritage and ancestral pottery techniques performed entirely by hand, notably coil-building, burnishing, and smoke-firing. He is recognized for his monumental sculptures and vases with finely incised surfaces, whose textures evoke natural and organic patterns—a major signature of his work. Represented by Southern Guild in Cape Town, he has presented several significant exhibitions including iQweqwe and Madoda: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and has participated in international events such as the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial. His work has been honored notably by a selection for the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize, and his pieces are now part of major museum collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Mint Museum, confirming his place among the prominent figures of contemporary African ceramics.
JOMO TARIKU
Jomo Tariku is an Ethiopian-American designer born in 1969 in Ethiopia and trained in industrial design at the University of Kansas. He is renowned for his contemporary furniture inspired by African forms, symbols, and cultural heritage, which he translates into a sculptural and narrative approach. Among his most famous works is the Meedo Chair, inspired by the traditional Afro comb, a symbol of identity, cultural pride, and unity across several African and Afro-descendant cultures. He also created the Nyala Chair, inspired by the horns of the nyala antelope, an iconic species in East Africa and notably present in Ethiopia, as well as the Boraatii Stool and the Mukecha Stool, which draw on African cultural and artisanal references. His work is represented notably by the Wexler Gallery in the United States and the Sarah Myerscough Gallery in London, and his pieces are part of major collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, confirming his major role in the international recognition of contemporary African design.
PORKY HEFER
Porky Hefer is a South African artist recognized for his sculptural and immersive work at the intersection of art, design, and architecture. Self-taught, he has developed a singular universe over several years consisting of organic structures, often suspended or habitable, that engage in a dialogue with space and the environment. Inspired by craftsmanship, nature, and vernacular architecture alike, his works play on notions of refuge, memory, and the relationship between humans and their habitat. Porky Hefer has exhibited his work internationally, notably in major museums, galleries, and fairs, where his monumental and poetic installations invite a sensory as much as an aesthetic experience, asserting a resolutely contemporary practice deeply rooted in the South African context.
ADAM BIRCH
Adam Birch (born 1976 in South Africa) is a Cape Town-based sculptor represented by Southern Guild. A former arborist, he draws from this experience a deep knowledge of wood, which he considers a living material.
He primarily works with reclaimed or local wood, transforming natural tree forks into sculptural seating with organic forms. Committed to a sustainable approach, he only uses invasive exotic trees or fallen indigenous species.
His works have been featured in major solo exhibitions and at international fairs such as Design Miami and The Salon Art + Design in New York.
ZANELE MUHOLI
Zanele Muholi is a South African artist and photographer born in 1972 in Umlazi, Durban. Trained at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg and holder of a Master’s in Documentary Media from Ryerson University in Toronto, they have developed a major photographic body of work dedicated to the representation of Black LGBTQIA+ identities in South Africa. Defining themselves as a visual activist, Muholi is particularly known for the series Faces and Phases and Somnyama Ngonyama, which examine identity, visibility, and the power of the image. Zanele Muholi enjoys international recognition and has exhibited in leading institutions such as Tate Modern, the Stedelijk Museum, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and the Venice Biennale. They are represented by several international galleries, including Southern Guild, and their works are featured in numerous major public and private collections.
CHUMA MAWENI
Chuma Maweni is a South African artist and ceramist born in Gqeberha, whose work lies at the intersection of ceramics and sculptural furniture. Trained in ceramic design at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, he has since developed a rigorous practice centered on utilitarian forms reinterpreted as sculptural pieces, blending references to Zulu and Xhosa traditions with a contemporary language. His works—vases, tables, and furniture-objects—are distinguished by incised surfaces, great technical mastery, and a strong formal presence. Chuma Maweni is represented by Southern Guild gallery in Cape Town, and his work has been presented at major international fairs such as Design Miami and The Salon Art + Design in New York. Some of his pieces are now held in institutional collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
THANDIWE MURIU
Thandiwe Muriu is a contemporary Kenyan artist and photographer born in 1990 in Nairobi, where she lives and works. Trained in photography in Kenya and later at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg, she has developed a powerful and instantly recognizable visual body of work at the intersection of photography, fashion, and contemporary art. Her work features striking female portraits, often created in-studio, in which textile patterns, accessories, and backdrops dialogue with the body to create a form of visual camouflage. Through these meticulously constructed compositions, she examines notions of identity, representation, femininity, and African cultural heritage within a resolutely contemporary language. Today, Thandiwe Muriu is exhibited on the international stage and represented by leading galleries, notably the Mariane Ibrahim gallery, and her works have been presented in institutions, fairs, and private collections across Africa, Europe, and the United States, affirming her place as one of the major figures of contemporary African photography.
COMITE DE PROYECTOS
Comité de Proyectos is an interior and furniture design studio based in Mexico City, founded in 2014 by Lucía Soto and Andrea Flores. Collaborating closely since 2010, the duo designs objects and living spaces that translate human emotions and sensations into functional forms. Their work establishes a subtle dialogue between craftsmanship and technique, and between art and utility, collaborating with artisan workshops to create durable, timeless, and meaningful pieces. The materials they favor—natural wood, stone, sisal, wicker, and soft, soothing color palettes—reflect a warm and serene aesthetic. Co-founder Lucía Soto is in charge of furniture design. She is deeply involved in the creative process, particularly in transforming cultural and ancestral references into forms, textures, and materials.
