Making It! 2026 turns creative ambition into real economic momentum

From the moment attendees arrived at Levelthree Premium Venue in the heart of Kramerville, Sandton, the Craft and Design Institute’s (CDI)Making It! 2026event 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. 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.

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For many, it wasn’t just inspiration, but a practical reframing of how cultural knowledge can be carried forward into sustainable, future-facing work. 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.

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