In a refined union of heritage and contemporary creation, The Balvenie has partnered with sculptural paper artist Maia Lehr-Sacks to reveal a series of bespoke window installations at key Norman Goodfellows outlets. This is the first South African expression of The Makers Project, a global campaign honouring modern creatives who, like The Balvenie, bring deep intention, skill and patience to their craft.
The collaboration centres on a shared philosophy: that true luxury lies not in speed, but in the personal commitment to process, detail, and care. Just as The Balvenie upholds rare traditions like growing its own barley, malting by hand, and trusting a single Malt Master to guide every cask, Lehr-Sacks brings a tactile, meditative depth to her sculptural paper works.
A Dialogue Between Two Craft Philosophies
The Balvenie’s Five Rare Crafts: home grown barley, owned cooperage, working floor malting, copper stills and malt master remain the pillars of its distinctive character. Rather than recreating them literally, Maia Lehr-Sacks drew inspiration from this model of intentionality to define her own Five Pillars of Craft: process, material, memory & intention, repetition, and transformation.
“Each fold holds memory. Each crease is deliberate,” she reflects. “The hours of folding, the physical strain, and the quiet repetition all live inside the work. That’s the craft. That’s the soul of it.”
The resulting installation is a series of pleated paper sculptures, suspended, rhythmic forms that catch light and shadow in constant movement. The work captures a duality present in both art and whisky: the fragility of the medium, held together by the strength of discipline.
The Art of Display, The Poetry of Precision
Lehr-Sacks designed the installations with acute sensitivity to light, ensuring that each display would shift throughout the day. “Paper doesn’t just sit in space, it responds to it. Light becomes a collaborator. Shadow becomes the storyteller.”
This commitment to imperfection, intimacy and hand-finished variance is mirrored in The Balvenie’s approach. From its use of copper stills to its on-site coopers, every element of its whisky-making process is touched by human hands and time-honoured skill.
A Preview of the Makers Journey
The window displays mark the beginning of a journey that will unfold in the coming months, as South African makers, across culinary and visual disciplines share their own craft philosophies in response to The Balvenie’s heritage.
This is not a reinterpretation of The Balvenie’s Five Rare Crafts, but a celebration of parallel purpose: where each maker defines their own five pillars of personal craft, grounded in character, patience and passion.
Visit the installations now at:
- Norman Goodfellows Fourways
- Norman Goodfellows Kyalami
- Norman Goodfellows Melrose Arch
