Connecting with creative minds – our growing Tanzanian community

We celebrate each country’s diversity by weaving its art, design and culture into every aspect, from the considered spaces to a guest experience that draws deeply on the heritage of that location.

Design is one of the more tangible ways we can communicate each place's identity – sharing African creativity in the form of artwork and design by talented individuals and collectives across the continent is part of shaping an authentic immersion for guests into the places they visit.

Sourcing is a core consideration when conceiving and creating these spaces – our teams feel a sense of responsibility to choose and support local, even though the process can be more challenging. Our collaborators are a crucial part of this, and bringing soul and a sense of place to our spaces. Working hand-in-hand with studios and artists over the years, we have forged strong relationships in Tanzania that continue to flourish and produce inspired and meaningful work.

Senior Designer Franco Van Wyk knows that building longstanding relationships is just as important as continuously seeking out new talent. Over time, the creatives that have contributed to the design in our lodges have become part of the wider Singita community. Some, like Sidai Designs, have done multiple projects for our lodges in Grumeti, creating pieces that speak to each property’s uniqueness.

“We first met the team from Sidai in around 2017 when Sacha Pagani and I went on a sourcing trip all over Tanzania – going to many markets and following leads on artists. We discovered a few amazing things on that trip, one of which was Sidai in Arusha. We walked into the studio and immediately fell in love with their setup and the team," says Franco.

Completing pieces for Sabora and Mara River Tented Camps, and with others for Serengeti House and Faru Faru currently in the pipeline, part of Sidai’s magic lies in the studio’s ability to bring a fresh perspective to the concept. “We've come a long way with Sidai. We send our concepts and ideas to Becky, Sidai's director, and her team, and they put their own slant to it. We always want them to interpret our thinking in their own way – that’s important to us. I think that the work that comes out of a process of allowing the designer to put something of themselves into it makes it much more meaningful,” says Franco.

Another core reason Sidai has become a repeat collaborator is their ability to translate traditional customs, techniques and materials. “While traditional design is beautiful in itself, we needed to find some contemporary solutions for our properties so to have finally found someone local in Sidai – that could interpret elements of Maasai design and culture in a very contemporary way – has been amazing," notes Franco.

This is beautifully illustrated by the piece the studio is working on for Serengeti House. A 3mx1.8m wide canvas wall hanging, the concept centres on the symbiosis between the human and the natural landscapes. “We wanted Sidai to interpret what you see when you fly over the Serengeti – farms and homesteads, bomas and pathways, humans and animals, rivers, crossings and contours – using beads,” says Franco. Around 60% of the piece will be made up of thousands of beads hand carved by a local artist.

Such intricate work takes time, and the extent of the skill and effort shows in the final pieces, each of which is one of a kind. “The amount of work that goes into these should not be underestimated. This level of detail takes the artists months to achieve,” says Franco.

The process of working with a new designer is also gradual – a back of forth of ideas and meeting of minds. A recent addition to Singita’s collaborative community is Safina Kimbokota. “We had this idea of creating sculptural metalwork pieces at Faru Faru, and we wanted to do it locally again. I started researching artists in this field and came across Safina,” says Franco. An assistant lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Dar es Salaam, she is also a qualified welder. “Her work is usually a bit more figurative, but she was so lovely to talk to, and so open to interpreting our ideas and when we broke down the concept of Faru Faru on a design level, we started unlocking her creativity together,” says Franco. Since then, she’s also been asked to do some soapstone carvings for Sabora.

Working with new designers is a process of discovery, while with longstanding collaborators, it’s one of growth – for all involved. “Seeing Safina so willing to step out of her comfort zone and try something she’d never tried before was inspiring,” says Franco. “Equally inspiring is seeing how some of the studios we have worked with for some time have grown since the beginning – in scope and size.”

It’s a journey through which everyone learns and grows – from collaborators and the in-house designers to the lodge teams. When a project or redesign is completed, the design team does training at the lodges on the new additions and schemes, to ensure that they too can share the extent of African talent with our guests, and the wider world, catalysing an ever-growing appreciation of the continent's creativity.