Barrydale is a small South African town in the Overberg district, home to art collective Magpie. They make fantastic light fittings by hand, using reclaimed materials. Helen Brain wrote on Tuesday in TechnoTimes that "it was their 2-metre-high regency-inspired chandeliers, on show in the New York store Anthropologie, that caught the eye of the interior designer commissioned to decorate the Obama family's quarters in the White House." So now there's South African rubbish in the White House. (Not to be confused with the South African rubbish Brandon Huntley in Ottawa currently making news headlines.)
Magpie's are not the only South African light fixtures made from discarded items, though they might be the most elaborate. A while ago I discovered that Nzola Brand Cafe on Church Street in the Cape Town CBD (a wonderful nook for breakfast or lunch) has been fitted out with light fixtures made of plastic found washed up on the city's beaches. I believe they can be bought at the shop next door, so if you are looking for that sort of thing, I suggest you check it out.
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