South African art and design gallery Southern Guild collaborated with the Tollman family (owners of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection) to create a celebration of art and design from across the continent at the Xigera Safari Lodge, immersed in the nature of Botswana's Okavango Delta.
African art and design take the spotlight at Xigera Safari Lodge
One of the Xigera Safari Lodge's Suite Lounges, with spaces merging indoor and outdoors experiences. Pictured here are a ceramic side table by Atang Tshikare, a metal and repurposed conveyor belt sculptural chair by Xandre Kriel, a glass-topped table by John Vogel, a sofa by Southern Guild, as well as a hand woven rug by Coral & Hive and art by Chris Soal on the wall
Two years in the making, the project features an impressive collection of African design by the likes of Porky Hefer, Atang Tshikare, Zizipho Poswa and many more, with furniture, art and accessories carefully selected by Toni Tollman in collaboration with Southern Guild to decorate the spaces designed by architect Anton de Kock. Site-specific pieces were commissioned by the gallery to create the Lodge’s immersive atmosphere, and almost every object was created especially for the lodge by local artisans, from furniture and ceramics to textiles and tableware.
A view of the drinks deck, overlooking the Okavango Delta grasslands
The Xigera Safari Lodge is 95% solar powered and boasts 12 guest suites immersed in the surrounding grassland of the Okavango Delta, with spaces merging indoor and outdoor experiences. Features like a Baobab-shaped tree house (inspired by a painting by South African master landscape painter Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef) add to the special nature of the stay at the Lodge, with further outdoor spaces including a waterside lounge area, a totemic fire-pit sculpture by artist-blacksmith Conrad Hicks and Porky Hefer-designed loungers and woven ‘nests’.
Created as ‘a living gallery of African talent’, with 76 of the most celebrated creatives featured throughout the spaces, it forms the most ambitious display of African design in the continent to date.
The main lodge features a sunken lounge and fireplace anchored by a copper sculpture made by South African foundry Bronze Age in the shape of a lily. Also in the room are side tables by Chuma Maweni (with more pieces by the Cape Town ceramicist dotted throughout the property), four sculptures by ceramicist Madoda Fani and an artwork by Stanislaw Trzebinski on the wall
An outdoors view of the Xigera Lodge's deck overlooking nature
The Lodge's Baobab-shaped tree house, inspired by a painting by South African master landscape painter Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef
A nest designed by Porky Hefer on the Lodge's deck
A wall featuring wood panels by the late South African artist Cecil Skotnes
Seating by South African designer Andile Dyalvane. The seats come from Andile's project titled Idladla (grain silo), referencing the central role that maize cultivation plays in rural African life
Another view of the lounge area
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