Trevyn McGowan

For over a decade, Trevyn McGowan has had a dedicated mission to take Southern African design to the world. Her efforts to raise the global profile of Africa’s burgeoning design scene recently earned her a place on Art + Auction magazine’s ‘POWER 100’ list of the most influential players in the art world for 2013.

Trevyn is also orchestrator of DESIGN NETWORK AFRICA (DNA), a Danish funded program that links top designers from 12 countries throughout Africa, assisting to transform their businesses and to build a new global understanding and appreciation of African design. Curated by Trevyn, DNA’s first international exhibition, ‘Graphic Africa’, showcased furniture, textiles, object and lighting by 16 African designers to great acclaim at Habitat’s Platform Gallery during the 2013 London Design Festival.

Cape Town’s World Design Capital 2014 designation presented a unique opportunity for the McGowans to ‘bring the world to Cape Town’. The launch of GUILD, Africa’s first international design fair, is a continuation of their work to date, exploring the theme of 'making’ at a very elevated, collectible level.