SA Express May 2013 magazine - Southafrica.to

@
W
O
R
K
INVEST FOR
THE FUTURE
IN SOUTH
AFRICAN ART
TEXT: NICKY FURNISS
IMAGES © ART INVESTMENTS
When art imitates life, or more specifically, when art becomes
business, being able to create a great masterpiece is no
guarantee of success. Indwe takes a look at how a new company,
Art Investments, is stepping in to help South African artists also
become South African entrepreneurial success stories.
In the art world, talent often only gets you so
far, as Vincent van Gogh and countless others
before and since have discovered the hard way.
Often this is because artists have the skills to paint a
striking canvas or sculpt a beautiful work of art, but
none of the savvy as to how to market their end
product or to get it viewed by audiences that could
potentially invest in their work.
“The main idea is to sustain the artist and
to prove that art can be a career for someone,”
explains Reggie Khumalo, Operations Director for
Art Investments. We sit in his office in Centurion,
surrounded by the work of the artists that the
company has already started mentoring. Though it
officially only came into being in May last year, Art
Investments has five artists on their books – four
painters and one sculptor – whose work has already
been sold to buyers during a number of exhibitions
the company has hosted.
Renowned South African artist, Wakaba Mutheki,
who along with Reggie is responsible for sourcing
artists and then primarily for mentoring them,
brought many of these artists on board. While the
company was launched by financial investment
company Advanced Capital as a means of investing
in the local community, the only criteria for an artist
to be selected is to show great promise and potential.
Artists that are signed to Art Investments are
then given a platform and every available resource
to improve and showcase their work. The company
provides all the art materials necessary, as well as
mentorship in the form of Wakaba, not to mention
regular exhibitions to sell their work. During
their contracts the artists also receive a regular
salary. “We put them on a contract so that they are
guaranteed of a salary, whether we sell their work
or not,” explains Reggie. Not only does this help
to sustain the artists in their chosen career, but it
also ensures that their work retains its value and
appreciates over time. “By providing the artists with
a salary, they don’t have to prostitute their work on
the street. They are not desperate, so the work is
not priced cheaply and it means that it increases in
value over time,” says Reggie.
This is good news for potential buyers as well.
“The idea – and why we are called Art Investments
– is to build an investment of each piece. We
guarantee our buyers that, because these artists
58
Indwe