Githan Coopoo

Githan Coopoo is a self-taught jewellery designer and sculptor from Cape Town who works exclusively with clay as a base medium.

Originally focused on volume, opulence and fragility, Coopoo’s clay jewellery has shown at Fashion Weeks internationally, including New York, Paris, Nigeria and Russia. He was AKO Foundation Assistant Curator of Costume at the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town. In 2022, Coopoo was recognised by the British Fashion Council in their New Wave: Creatives awards category. This category includes a list of the most innovative and inspiring young creative talents from around the world.

Expanding upon his practice, recent years have seen the production of larger-scale works, best described as false ceramics. ‘I produce these iconic forms – vases, handbags and tiles – out of air drying clay and acrylic paint,’ Coopoo explains. ‘Insinuating my sculptures into the accepted ceramic canon while enacting a falsehood is an innately queer act.’