CRÉATION AFRICA: Translating Zulu heritage into contemporary — and comfortable — furniture

Inspired by his own culture and traditions, Siyanda Mbele says whatever he does, he does again and again, and that’s how the name Pinda was born. For him, the word encompasses the constant.

“Just looking at how we do everything repeatedly, again and again and again. We’re doing this again and we are showcasing again. We’re launching this again. We’re on another flight again. There’s a new customer again. There’s this again. There’s that again.” 

Mbele is the founder and creative director of Pinda Furniture and Interior Design, whose name is derived from the isiZulu word phinda, meaning again, or constant motion. And true to this spirit, Mbele has done it “again”. 

He has been selected for the second edition of Création Africa – a seven-month business incubation programme organised by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of France and the French Institute of South Africa (Ifas), to support cultural entrepreneurs across South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi. 

Mbele’s designs have featured at a number of international shows and in 2016, while at the Southern Guild Gallery exhibition in Cape Town, he saw his own potential with the creation of the Mvelo Desk. The desk is both a work of art and a highly engineered workspace, decorated with diamond and chevron patterns representing masculinity and femininity. 

“When we made the Mvelo Desk, we knew we were onto something special,” says Mbele. In 2018 it was nominated as one of the Most Beautiful Objects in South Africa by Design Indaba.

Details matter

“I’m Zulu, so my culture naturally influences a lot of my work,” he says.

“I get excited when there’s a traditional Imbizo with the family and you start to hear different stories from the elders of how things needed to be done. Heritage, culture, being able to speak your own language, is something that was ingrained in us.”

He added that Zulu designs incorporate a lot of detail. 

“I remember my late grandmother’s friend used to do beadwork, all these intricate pieces. It was so meticulous, almost like a machine had done it. There was also so much maths involved somehow. I’d always look at that and want to translate it into our work.

“Even in some of the pieces we’ve done, we try to bring in that same intricacy we see in beadwork and the designs and being part of this cohort will help me do that.”

Mbele has brought those details to his Zulu Chair, which was showcased at the recent Maison&Objet design show in Paris. He drew on his personal experiences and researched ergonomics to design the chair for African bodies. According to guests at the show, the chair is both bold and comfortable.

“We didn’t want it to be a minimal approach. We needed to make the width of it bigger but in a subtle way, as if it were already part of the design. At the show we asked a lot of ladies to sit and they were shocked at how comfortable they were.”

Mbele intends to include more African ergonomics in his designs.

A dream renewed

For Mbele, Création Africa came at the perfect time.

“It means a great deal to us because we were able to use the support from Création Africa, as well as the information and knowledge we gained through the mentorship sessions, to inform what we’re currently doing. A huge part of what we’re doing now has been shaped by the outcomes of Création Africa. If I had to describe it in one word, I’d say ‘impactful’.” 

Mbele’s plans for the future include taking Pinda Furniture and Interior Design global.

“I was speaking to one of the Création Africa mentors and they asked, ‘What would be your wildest dream?’ I realised that when I was younger, I always dreamed of having a showroom in London, or somewhere overseas where people could easily access our products.

“Over the years, with the ups and downs of running a business, that dream had left my mind. But the question brought it back and I don’t want it in one specific place, but central to everyone.” DM

Our writing about Création Africa is made possible in partnership with the French Institute of South Africa (Ifas). Création Africa is an initiative of The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi, and Ifas.