Cape Town: We are looking forward to this year’s line up at the Design Indaba Conference that runs over three days from 27 February to March 01 2013. ARTS THREAD brings you some speaker highlights.

Material Matters: New Materials in Design from black dog publishing is an excellent up-to-date review of the materials available to today’s designer. Perfect for both the experienced and student designer, the range of materials referenced is divided by chemical composition – Metals, Glasses, Ceramics, Polymers, Composites and Material Futures.

Look out for MADE12 in Brighton from November 22-25 2012. The 120 makers include a fair sprinkling of ARTS THREAD members, such as Karen Fox, Rhona McCallum, Ros Millar, Suet Yi Yip and Kirsty Fraser.

A blob of lacquer seeps sideways over of black jewellery box, two labour-hardened twins face each other over a barren landscape and a geometric dress of glinting CD pieces hangs against the wall. I have walked into the first China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) exhibition in the west, curated by Janice Blackburn and hosted by Sotheby’s London.

MADE LONDON, the design and craft fair comes to London’s One Marylebone later this month, bringing along some of the UK’s best and most original contemporary craft designers.

This year’s designjunction during London Design Festival was held at The Old Sorting Office in Holborn over three floors. ARTS THREAD went to investigate.

Today marks the start of this year’s Budapest Design Week. Held in the Hungarian capital between the 28th September and 7th October, the event offers over a hundred programs highlighting local and international designers.

Assemble, the Crafts Council conference was held on September 20 at RIBA in central London. ARTS THREAD highlights some of the many thought-provoking moments that emerged at this truly inspirational event.

For four days in August, Traces will exhibit the works of new, emerging artists in a secret location somewhere in London.

Food, glorious food! Until 30 September, Designhuis in Eindhoven will be exhibiting a feast of work by designers who explore the relationship between design, food and the origins of what we eat.