AIDA Awards × PADI: Connecting African Design Ahead of Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026
Good design needs people who ask difficult questions, people who make things happen, and opportunities for the two to meet. Ahead of Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026, the partnership between the Africa International Design Awards (AIDA) and the Pan Afrikan Design Institute (PADI) brings that shared ambition into focus: supporting African designers and helping their work reach a wider audience.
Taking place in Cape Town from 21 to 24 October, Pan Afrikan Design Week will gather designers, educators, entrepreneurs, cultural practitioners and community leaders around a question with considerable practical weight: “How Do We Design to Thrive?” Convened by PADI, with Open Design Afrika as the local host and coordinating partner, the event will explore what design can contribute to the lives of people, communities and the environments they share.
It is a question that deserves time, particularly when the people answering it bring different experiences to the table. A designer working with local materials, an educator preparing students for professional practice and a community organiser improving access to services may approach the same challenge very differently. Putting those perspectives in conversation can help everyone see where their own work could go further.
For AIDA, the relationship with PADI reflects a commitment to the professional community around African design. PADI’s work spans education, advocacy and connections between designers, institutions and industry, while AIDA provides international recognition for creative achievement across the continent and its diaspora. PADI Executive Board Member Juliet Kavishe also serves on the AIDA jury, bringing the connection into the awards’ evaluation process.
The forthcoming Design Week gives these shared interests a timely setting. The main conference runs from 21 to 23 October at Workshop17, Watershed, V&A Waterfront, with discussions addressing cultural identity, community development and the future of education. Workshops and networking offer further opportunities to exchange ideas, followed by a community and cultural learning experience hosted by Uthando South Africa on 24 October.
Recognition can draw attention to a project; conversations between practitioners can help that attention become a useful relationship. Both matter to designers building a practice, finding collaborators or introducing their work to new audiences, and both inform the partnership between AIDA and PADI.
As Cape Town prepares to welcome the gathering, AIDA invites its community to explore the programme and take part in the discussion.