Africa’s Renaissance through ZANIA
Written by Tshepang Mabizela: Co-founder & Head of Marketing & Behaviour
The narrative we are driving is that African artists can grow while keeping their independence and owning their work.
ZANIA was built to speak to the visual landscape of Africa, with its roots moving from the South to the larger continent. The truth is that Africa has always represented itself through visuals, from the darkest of caves to the most digital of spaces, but the essence of who we are has always remained. The African renaissance will be told on digital and physical canvases, the artists will steer their own revolution, the difference is that they will do it side by side.
ZANIA was created with the artist on our side, through countless conversations, understanding the landscape through their experience, and with us using our experiences in visual arts, music and arts management to create ZANIA, a platform for Africans by Africans.
We are not just a tech start-up; we are the bridge that moves talented African visual artists from creating moderately in their spaces, to creating globally, by helping them to create narratives, opening our artist network to allow for engagement, teaching and educating them how to exist on a digital scale and creating content with them to ensure more visibility.
The NFT marketplace is the digital progression of how things are done in the 21st century and we as ZANIA had to grow and understand the best way to help artists cement themselves in the digital renaissance, a renaissance that is already here to change how things are done.
The truth is this, that we as Africans need to equip ourselves, and ZANIA was created to serve artists. NFT is a tool to get ahead, and the community of it all, is educating Africa in the WHAT, HOW AND WHY of this progression, through podcasts, written breakdowns and online classes steered by fellow artists and professionals.
Having had gone through tech start-ups (Founders Institute) and having a strong advisory board is to be the best people to serve the space and not just to benefit from it. We are here to impact the African visual landscape and put it in the forefront of the evolution.
We will be helping artists build and structure their business, and teach them how to protect their work, we will know that we are successful when we see an increasing number of artists growing as independent artists, and we see more resources geared towards African artists. We will use Podcasts, Content, Workshops, and artist meet-ups to teach and learn from one another. We need YOU to be our partner in informing and empowering African artists, our proposed partnership is gear towards spreading information and resources for empowering African Artists.