HYD winners share their journey

Chatting to Nindya Bucktowar and Nikhil Tricam from Studio Kalki – the winners of the 2023 Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) talent search – the conversation starts with how busy everyone is. But Nindya and Nikhil are not under the pump because of deadlines, but because they’ve just got back from Botswana where they got stuck with their vehicle out on a salt pan.

We ended up staying at a mining lodge on Sunday night because we couldn’t get back to our hotel, says Nikhil.We went to Botswana for a wedding, but our salt pan adventure made it far more fun!

It’s quickly apparent that this pioneering spirit and willingness to go adventuring is part of what drives the creative couple in their personal and professional lives.

All images by Nikhil Tricam and property of Studio Kalki.

Link to this headingOpening up new opportunities

Reflecting on how life has changed since winning HYD, Nikhil and Nindya say what they’ve appreciated is the many new opportunities that have come their way.

Winning has been incredible – I’ve enjoyed every moment of it and meeting everyone we’ve been able to connect with, says Nindya

There’s a misconception about HYD that you will be handed things on a platter, says Nikhil.But what they do is they give you an opportunity to show and prove what you can do. For example, we design and fabricate, and they’ve sent us opportunities and we’ve tried our best to jump on every one of those and then to exceed those expectations wherever possible.

While the prize for HYD was an “incubation” year, which is technically over, Nikhil says they’re still moving forward with several opportunities through Nando’s and our design partner, Clout/SA. These include an onsite ceramic tile installation at Nando’s Farnham (watch this space!) in the UK, which includes almost 6000 individual suspended ceramic beads for the piece, designed and manufactured by Kalki.

Both Nikhil and Nindya are architects by training, and they’re compiling their interior design portfolio in the hopes that they’ll be considered for opportunities to design Nando’s interiors.

Nindya says that the programme has also helped Studio Kalki and its sub-brand, Kalki Ceramics, to speed up their prototyping process, giving an example of a recent award-winning exhibition they were part of atCape Town Furniture Week. Nindya says she happened to show some ideas to Tracy Lynch, Nando’s Design Programme’s creative director, and she asked if they could fabricate in time for the event, which pushed them to make it happen.

Nando’s HYD gives us a platform and also the association with other designers that elevates our brand in a very accelerated way, she says.

Sometimes, things don’t go quite according to plan, and Nindya says there’s value in these instances too, especially in the feedback received and how they are supported in problem-solving.

Nikhil says one of his favourite opportunities to date was visiting Mozambique withGoodbye Malaria(the brainchild of entrepreneurs including our co-founder, Robbie Brozin), where they met the people who undertake the seasonal spraying of residual insecticide on the interior walls of houses where mosquitoes are found, photographing the experience and connecting with key roleplayers, including the loca chief and the mayor. Nikhil then used his drawings of the experience to create murals back in South Africa, featured at our head office,Nando’s Central Kitchen, and to translate his artworks into labels for the brand.

Link to this headingInspiration and materiality

While Kalki Ceramics is the name of the ceramics arm of the business, which creates hand-glazed ceramic tiles, Studio Kalki is the overarching parent company that Nindya and Nikhil started to house their diverse services, which include interior design, product design, steel fabrication and visual art, among others.

A lot of our inspiration comes from the world that we have created for ourselves, says Nindya.That includes the experiences we have chosen to engage in and our own landscapes we can draw from. I grew up in Mauritius; Nikhil grew up all over the country, from Cape Town to Pretoria, PE and now Durban, and we draw from different urban and natural landscapes. Being architects, obviously we look at things in a very elemental manner. So even if we hold a piece of marble, the marble brings to its creation a materiality. That almost speaks to us and inspires how we’re able to work with the material.

Nikhil says a trend that is inspiring them currently is the move – which has been in motion for several years now – away from hyper industrialisation towards an appreciation of the handmade.

There’s also a trend towards colour, but not in the loud colours of the 1980s… more in a way that’s natural and subdued, but not pastel, he says.For example, there’s a return to colours that reference terracotta and the earth and leaves. We’re seeing this not just in South Africa but at design fairs around the world.

Nindya adds that there’s also a revived interest in natural materials, including natural stone, such as marble in all its different shades.

Link to this headingAdvice for young creatives

Don’t wait for the world to hand things to you, says Nikhil.As a young creative, you need to be extremely proactive. In fact, that’s universal advice. You need to be willing to put your finances, your ego, your relationships on the line to achieve your vision. And my other advice is to play. You can acknowledge trends, but you also need to be able to forget them and just play. If you have an idea, make it. And if it’s crap, there will still be something there that you can build on.

Nindya adds that young creatives need to build strong communities around them.I’m not from South Africa, but when I graduated, I moved to Durban and I have found that the design and art community has been incredibly supportive. I’m here because when I asked for advice or help, somebody gave us the support we needed. We didn’t get here on our own. Yes, there’s always going to be some form of competition, but it can be healthy competition. We pick up the phone to our competitors and we talk to them about the challenges that we’re dealing with in developing our supply. We have a coffee and we chat, and I think that’s so important because in South Africa, and anywhere in the world, we need to be able to empower each other and make our voices louder in the world. And you can’t do that alone.

Link to this headingA South African design language

I think that designers have a very strong presence in South Africa and we have a very strong voice. Maybe that voice is stronger than in a lot of other countries on the global stage. And I would like to see that developed – not in line with international trends, but in line with our own language, inspired by what our country has to offer. The challenge and opportunity is to turn South Africa into a global player in a much more meaningful way, says Nikhil in conclusion.

For more about Studio Kalki, followNindya and Nikhil and team on Instagram.