OVERVIEW
Middelburg, Eastern Cape, 3-4 July 2026
Wool World: “Karoo Kraal” marks the second joint curatorial project by Lezanne Viviers
(Viviers), Nisha van der Hoven and Justus van der Hoven (Hoven). Presented in a
functioning sheep shearing shed, the exhibition explores South African animal fibres such as wool and mohair as a material and spatial language with a focus on gathering, and
dwellings.
“Karoo Kraal” is a metaphor for belonging and safety, reflecting the interdependence and
co-creation between Mother Nature, her animals, and humanity. As the Afrikaans phrase “so reg in my kraal” suggests, this sense of order and protection within the boundaries of a kraal feels nurturing and intimate. The curatorial approach brought together artists and
artisans working across disciplines with animal fibres, both established and emerging, in a joint effort to continue the REWOOLUTION.
“The Kraal is not a place of control. It is a place of gathering, protection and communion, where individual structures form something larger, where each space is its own, but none of them complete without the others. You don’t build a kraal by knowing exactly where everything goes. You build it by creating the conditions for things to find their place. What makes co-curating with Viviers so interesting is that we’re working across disciplines - fashion and spatial design, furniture and architecture, and the vocabulary isn’t always the same. Finding where those things meet inside the same yurt, inside the same spatial identity, is where the real work happens. It's a peculiar creative space between everything falling apart and everything is exactly as it should be and most of the time, our role is mediator.”
Nisha van der Hoven, Co-Curator
On Friday, 3 July, “Karoo Kraal” opened its doors to our community, welcoming them through a full sensory experience to explore four inhabited spaces and characters. Sonically, guests were welcomed with an original soundscape by Alessandro Gigli humming through the space. This piece acts as a subliminal cue, inviting our subconscious to understand how the work exhibited was processed from farm to fibre, through recorded sounds of live sheep combined with sounds of spinning or creating through knitting. All of these sounds of the value chain add a layer that connects the work exhibited to the place the fibres come from and the processes that prepare these fibres, as an ode to the full value chain.
“'Karoo Kraal' reminded me of the interconnectivity of all things and that we are moving towards unity consciousness. With the current timeline split, the artificial synthetic timelines vs the (he)artofficial organic timeline, we become very aware of our choices and our way of living. We either live with nature and realize that we are one with nature, or we choose to envelop ourselves with what is synthetic and removed from the natural world and order.
'Karoo Kraal' reminds us of the beauty of co-existence and co-dependence in a symbiotic relationship between our beloved sheep and goats, our communion between individuals and the kraal that brings everyone together as a tribe. The circular motif and way of gathering is a metaphor for unity, yet the individual huts allow for Individuality even when within your tribe. The 'kraal' serves as some kind of solution for existence as we start remembering how well they fit together. Craft and art serve as a solution to become more present, to connect deeper with nature and to use beauty as a choice for moving forward.”
Lezanne Viviers, Co-curator
The exhibition structure consists of four yurts that act as the spaces that different characters inhabit. These yurts, created by Sean Pritchard of Yurt Life, are wrapped in pillowy wool batting and encircle the Kraal at the centre. Each yurt takes on a different personality with different sensibilities.
“Our background as architects shaped how we approached this year's curation, bringing a spatial design sensibility to the exhibition. Titled, Wool World: ‘Karoo Kraal’, reimagines the show as a small settlement of temporary structures set within the Karoo landscape. Four timber yurts are arranged in a kraal formation, each housing a curated collection of wool pieces. The kraal formation draws on a longstanding South African spatial tradition associated with protection, gathering, and community, while the structures themselves reflect a nomadic, low-impact approach to building. Constructed simply enough to sit lightly on the ground, each yurt is built from timber ribs joined into a diagonal lattice. This flexible framework becomes a gallery that both represents the capabilities of building with natural fibre, and housing the artworks within it. Inside, the yurts are lined with felted wool batting, creating warm, sheltered interiors that of er relief from the Karoo's winter climate.
At the heart of the kraal is an open clearing that serves as a shared gathering space, from which visitors move outward into four distinct yurts. Each is shaped around an imagined character, showing different ways of working with wool, and expressing their own philosophy, material approach, and creative identity.”
Justus van der Hoven, Co-Curator
In this, we have: The Naturalist, whose love for animal fibre is interpreted through a
simplified, clean, minimal, neutral approach. A large and structural lamp, wood and black
wool. Draped above the bed, a soft cream wall hanging with delicate black horizontal strips.
Delicate vessels carved from oak and finished, in some places, with copper. The Naturalist,
through their love for natural and animal fibres, displays it through a minimalist’s eye,
embracing neutral black and white with touches of metallic.
Past the Naturalist, we are welcomed by a campsite. This site, more masculine in feeling,
acts as the front garden to The Agriculturalist. This space, originally designed to represent
our South African “K-Way” farmer, ultimately became, after finalising the curation, a more
modern space than initially conceptualised. This space inhabits neutrals through a more
masculine approach, with touches of more grounded earth tones, and an exploration of other
animal fibres through touches of hard leather.
The second half of the exhibition breaks away from simplified neutrals, exploring craft in a
more traditional sense, in the way we tend to normally imagine and understand animal
fibres. The Nomadic Weaver is an ode to lovers of craft and creation, those who knit and
crochet in waiting rooms, at appointments, or during movies. The work that inhabits the
Nomadic Weaver’s yurt demonstrates a love for colourful fibres, work created with a love for
playfulness, character, and fun. Differently from our Naturalist character, the Nomadic
Weaver has a maximalist approach to their space and attempts to weave as many different
textures and as many different colours together harmoniously, through a love for play.
The fourth and final yurt, though colourful, takes a different approach from our Nomadic
Weaver, as this character, The Afro-Modernist, embraces the modernism movement through
a culturally African approach. Exhibited in this space is work from artists across the African
continent that lives next to one another through a shared sensibility for solid colour and
blocking, and more graphic approaches to exploring colour and design.
Presented in each yurt is work from artists across disciplines working with wool, mohair, and
South African natural fibres. These pieces serve both as works to admire and as pieces one
could acquire to serve a function in their space. To further create a sense of living and
inhabiting within the greater exhibition concept of a Kraal, Viviers and Hoven had the
pleasure of working with prop stylist Katy Mills, who sourced items from around the Karoo
and its surrounds to add a layer to the exhibition. This grounds it and makes the spaces that
the curated works inhabit feel familiar, through enamel, worn, rusted objects we can relate to
differently as South Africans, whether encountered in the Karoo or as a reminder of an
object that connects you to your lineage. The prop design works to aid the feeling of
community, safety, and gathering by bringing in objects that domesticate these yurts.
EVENT PARTS:
Wool World: “Karoo Kraal” was officially opened on Friday, 3rd July as part of the Karoo
Winter Wool Festival program. As part of the opening, Viviers curated a multi-designer
fashion presentation styled by Cebo Mtshemla and Chiara Galvani, using work from artisans
and South African craftsmen, styled with a variety of looks, with characters in mind, that
could inhabit these different archetypes.
The Kraal in the centre of the exhibition hosted a multitude of panels and conversations,
pushing the past being just a conceptual symbol of togetherness to being a tangible meeting
and gathering point that facilitated meaningful and valuable conversation around natural and
animal fibres.
Activities hosted in the space include guided walkabouts with curators Lezanne Viviers,
Nisha van der Hoven, and Justus van der Hoven, all sharing their curatorial approach, as
well as inviting artists present to discuss their work and speak on their processes.
These efforts to gather as a community and facilitate conversations around South African
animal fibres such as wool, mohair, alpaca, and cashmere form part of the curators’ bigger
vision for a REWOOLUTION, celebrating work that positively benefits and influences South
African craft and our full natural fibre value chains.
A special thank you to our sponsors Cape Wools and Mohair South Africa for the continued
support that makes these exhibitions possible.
CREDITS
Co-curated by Viviers (@viviers.studio) and Hoven (@hovendesign)
With sponsorship and support from Cape Wools SA (@capewoolsa), Mohair South Africa
(@mohairsouthafrica) and Karoo Winter Wool Festival (@karoo_winter_wool_festival)
Yurts created by Sean Pritchard of Yurt Life (@yurt_life)
Prop Stylist: Katy Mills (@katy_jm), with items sourced from LOT 44 (@lot__44)
Fashion presentation Curated by Viviers (@viviers.studio) and styled by Cebo
Mtshemla (@cigaretttesandtofu) and Chiara Galvani (@chiara__galvani)
Soundscape: Alessandro Gigli @gigli_alessandro
Artists: Aards by Anelle la Grange, Alexia James, Ananta Design Studio, Anika Lötter,
Anneke Bosch - FynBosch Design, Arum Alpacas, Bezonder, Cape Cobra Leathercrafts,
Chantel Zalaiskalns, Crystal Birch, Design Academy of Fashion, Elizabeth Galloway
Academy of Fashion Design, FABRICNATION, FIELDS, FRANCES v.h Mohair, Hanneke
Bentz, Hannelie Bekker | Wrapt Knitwear, Heino Schmitt Design, Quenti Alpaca, Imán
Adams, InileImvula, Jordan Bareiss, Julia Swanepoel Pepler represented by Berman
Contemporary All Women Art, Kabous Hanslam, Karlien van Rooyen & Papsakk, Karoo
Baba, Kassa Studio, Katja Abbott, Kiewiet Handweaving, Leah Johnson, Leila Walter,
Lerwick Wool Atelier, Lily Esterhuizen, Lindy Kriek @ KIEKIE KUNS, Little Girl X The Genie
X Sisterbozza, Louise Kluyts, Loxton Wool & Felting Co-op, Luminous Ware, Major John,
Marlotte & Nina, Mash T, Megan Rumpelt, Michael Cheesman, Miró van der Vloed, MKRDR,
MUNGO, Ndumiso Dhlamini x Ronel Jordaan, Nicolette von Wiese, Nina Kruger, NUUN,
OKHA, Palesa Motheo, PATTERN Lab, Paul Kristafor, Polo South Africa, ROF, Ronel
Jordaan, Rosemary Alkemade & Avani Eybers, Roz Schibl Harber, Sada Sabbagha,
Sibabalwe Ndlwana, Soupchef, SUNDAY CHILD, Tali Lehr-Sacks, The Shearing Shed, The
Storer, Tosca Lazard, Viviers Studio, Weylandts, Woven Across Borders - Mbali Dhlamini
and Bubu Ogisi, Yolandi Schreuder.
Models: @adriandeanpike , @sizo_nxumalo , @unicorn.pie1978 , @megan.knottt ,
@anikalotter.artjewellery , @nelia.lotter , @_ jxdon _