Design and art hit the Mother City

Four days and nights of design and art. It's the stuff of a culturephile's dream. The sort of thing to put any socialite in their element and any normal person straight to bed with exhaustion at the thought.

Such was the case in Cape Town this week, when a smattering of the world's leading designers and pretty much every single beard-sporting, iPhone-toting local "creative" descended for the Design Indaba.

Indaba (as those in the loop call it) is arguably the most important conference of its kind in the world.

Twenty years on, its founder, the ever-salubrious Ravi Naidoo, continues to put on a stylish show - especially for the invited speakers.

Naidoo is famed for the orchestrated experiences, amazing dinners and general enveloping of his VIP guests in a "world of wonderful" for their stay in the Cape.

This year, for the likes of Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, Californian food truck impresario Roy Choi, and design doyenne Hella Jongerius, the fun started with a catamaran trip, then welcome drinks on the rooftop of the swanky Taj hotel, followed by an evening ride on the Blue Train into the winelands.

Two blocks from The Taj, a crowd of locals had gathered for the opening of the new Smith Studio. The unveiling of this art gallery marked an unofficial start to the parallel art happenings in the city.

Controversially, the Cape Town Art Fair takes place over the same days as the Design Indaba. Of course, capitalising on the creative minds visiting the city makes sense - but it also seems like there's just too much to do over too few days and too many overlapping events.

Invariably, lovers of design and art had to choose. On Tuesday night, art and the Smith Studio opening won.

The gallery, founded by Candace Marshall-Smith and curator Amy Ellenbogen, is owned by Marshall-Smith's husband, Times Media Group chief financial officer William Marshall-Smith, and TMG CEO Andrew Bonamour - both keen art collectors.

Housed in a 250-year-old building that has been beautifully and sensitively restored, the art space opened by showing a collection of work by designer-turned-artist Kurt Pio.

Pio's bold and engaging contemporary pieces (wall-sized painted jewels, anyone?) were lapped up by the cream of the Cape Town crop, including fashion designers Malcolm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriël Du Toit; Adriaan Dippenaar, asset manager and son of FirstRand founder Laurie Dippenaar; and even former Springbok captain Morné du Plessis.

On Wednesday night, the city's cool set flocked to two marquees (the fancy kind) on either side of the V&A Waterfront.

The likes of Véronique Susman, owner of Cape Town decor store Coco Karoo; Zimbabwean ceramicist Marjorie Wallace; and modular-home designer Philip Nel squeezed in among local and international designer furniture and homeware at the launch of the very sophisticated Guild exhibition.

Across the harbour, fashion stalwart Marianne Fassler, artist Stephen Hobbs, and Nirox director Benji Liebmann were among the guests who mingled between the stalls housing local and international galleries' work at the Cape Town Art Fair.

As if their midweek festivities weren't enough, the creative crew then sprang into action for a second bout on Thursday evening.

While Indaba speakers and VIPs dined out in the homes of Cape Town's most stylish, everyone else gathered at new CBD venue The Side Show for the official Design Indaba party.

Indaba after parties are always epic.

As questionable (they'd call it "directional") as their taste in bands and music may be, this one showed that designers know how to have a good time.

The crowd was from everywhere: the US, Italy and Joburg especially, all united in their love of normcore clothing, intricate tattoos and edgy hairstyles.

The gig took time to pick up, but then pumped into the early hours - leaving many an advertising creative director and burgeoning illustrator to deal with hangovers the next day.