Tag Archives: Trevyn McGowan

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 4 November

November 4, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* SAA Chairman Dudu Myeni has refused to follow Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown’s instruction that its CEO Monwabisi Kalawe be reinstated, after having been fired last week! Technically the Minister is not allowed to interfere with Board matters, but Minister Brown has intimated that anyone not co-operating to create stability at SAA will be fired.

* Corné Koch has been appointed as Head of the Wesgro’s Convention Bureau, having previously worked in promoting Gauteng, and the Advertising Standards Authority.

* Trendtalk#9 will focus on design trends, with speakers being Trevyn McGowan of Southern Guild, who curated the new Watershed at the V&A Waterfront, and John Sanei of Future Collective. The talk will be held on 11 November at the ICIC Continue reading →

New Watershed in V&A Waterfront showcases ‘Africa’s largest collection of craft and design’!

November 2, 2014

The V&A Waterfront has completely transformed what was previously the Blue Shed near the V&A Market on the Wharf, renaming it Watershed (a corny name which tries to be clever, but it does not reflect at all what is inside the building), and creating a showcase of 168 crafters, designers, and more under one roof.

I was invited to attend the official opening of Watershed on Thursday evening, and so were thousands of others, as the traffic jam inside the V&A was unbelievable, a trip between Kloof Street and the parking garage opposite Watershed taking 45 minutes traveling time! There was no warning on radio nor through the V&A’s electronic Continue reading →

World Design Capital 2014 Gala Dinner not reflective of Cape Town design excellence!

March 2, 2014

This is one of the hardest blogposts I have written, with a moral dilemma of being an invited guest at what one expected to be a social highlight for the year. The Gala Dinner for Cape Town hosting World Design Capital 2014 turned out to be an embarrassment in poor organisation and food! We trust that Cape Town Design NPC, the company operating the year-long design accolade, will forgive its frankness.

The Gala Dinner was the first substantial function organised for World Design Capital 2014, the New Year’s Eve concert having been an event shared with the City of Cape Town, and was intended to be for all the people of Cape Town. Only 270 guests were invited to the Gala Dinner, and included Cape Town Mayor de Lille and Stellenbosch Mayor Conrad Sidego; Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom; sponsor company representatives such as Media24 Chairman Ton Vosloo; members of the diplomatic corps; top designers; members of the Board of Cape Town Design NPC; and a large media contingent, both local and international. Given the calibre of the guests, the fact that almost everything was wrong with the evening was an embarrassing disaster! The dress code was formal with a touch of yellow, given the World Design Capital 2014 colour for the year. The men seemed better in adding the yellow touches via gold or yellow ties and bow ties, while the ladies struggled to find something yellow in their wardrobes, including Cape Town Design NPC CEO Alayne Reesberg. Surprising was how many guests wore jeans and open shirts, despite the dress code specification.

The dinner was set up in a temporary structure for the Guild Fair, the decor exhibition which is running in conjunction with the Cape Town Art Fair at The Lookout in the V&A Waterfront. Tables seating 20 guests each were set up in long rows, with no decor other than sets of three yellow/gold Monkeybiz beaded animals on the tables. The last time I was in the neighbouring The Lookout venue was for the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards in November, and the New Media Publishing team had done a fantastic job in decorating the massive venue. On Friday night there were no design features at all, and lighting was big industrial spotlights, Continue reading →