design week lagos joins decorex joburg

African design is strongest when it speaks across borders rather than within them. This year’s Decorex Joburg reflects that idea through a new partnership with Design Week Lagos, bringing together two of the continent’s most influential design platforms in a collaboration centred on dialogue and shared growth.

Taking place from 30 July – 02 August 2026, Decorex South Africa continues to position itself as an essential showcase of local design, products, and interiors: a meeting point where ideas and industries intersect, recognising that the future of African design depends as much on collaboration as it does on individual innovation. Founded by Titi Ogufere, Design Week Lagos has grown into an internationally recognised platform celebrating contemporary African design through exhibitions, conversations, craft, manufacturing and cultural programming. Over the years, it has helped position Lagos as one of the continent’s most dynamic creative capitals, demonstrating the impact of African design while creating opportunities for practitioners to engage with global audiences.

The partnership between Design Week Lagos and Decorex Joburg signals a natural next step. The collaboration brings to life a stronger dialogue between West and Southern Africa, encouraging designers and creative entrepreneurs to learn from one another while amplifying African design on an international stage. As part of the collaboration, Ogufere will join Future Talks Africa during Decorex Joburg for a conversation exploring platform-building and the evolving global visibility of African design. The discussion is expected to examine how design festivals shape local creative ecosystems, while exploring how they contribute to a broader continental narrative that positions Africa as a leader in contemporary design thinking.

Alongside the conversation, visitors will also encounter a group of designers whose practices reflect the essence of contemporary African design. Nigerian architect and designer Charles O. Job is internationally recognised for his understated approach to furniture, sustainability and industrial design, with work held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Vitra Design Museum. South African designer Mpho Vackier, owner and creative director of TheUrbanative, has built a practice around translating African histories and vernacular architecture into contemporary furniture and interiors that balance cultural storytelling with modern form. Also featured is Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and ceramicist O’dare Adenuga, who works across sculpture and clay, balancing formal refinement with references to vernacular craft and cultural signifiers. Completing the line-up is ceramic artist Adeoti Azeez Afeez, a sgraffito ceramicist who draws on clay made by scratching through a clay-coated surface with engobe to reveal a contrasting colour underneath, resulting in hatched-style drawings.

This partnership marks a collaboration between two established African design platforms, creating stronger connections between Lagos and Joburg while expanding visibility and opportunity for African design globally, reinforcing the idea that the continent’s greatest strength lies in the creative conversation that continues to grow across borders.