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iLanga Art is a student led, start-up, of six members of the University of Cape Town’s postgraduate programme of management 2015 entrepreneurial stream.  It is one of the business initiatives, competing in the 2015 Genesis Challenge.  iLanga Art is the innovative solution addressing the following three problems:

 

PROBLEM ONE: Fine art is one of the oldest and most consistent ways of decorating one’s space, whether it be a home, office, or institution. Beautiful, though-provoking, and open for interpretation, there is literally art for everyone.  However, apart from a painting or photograph hanging from the wall or a sculpture on display, adding visual interest, fine art has been limited in terms of function.  This lack of function prevents many art lovers from being able to justify the purchase, as art is not technically a need.  It is a want. 

 

PROBLEM TWO: Cape Town is home to some of the most talented creatives in South Africa.  While there are lots of galleries, art events, and creative support initiatives, there are barriers for emerging artists to get into the market and sustain themselves on their craft.  They need an opportunity for their works to be featured, enjoyed, and purchased; as well as, they need the business knowledge of how to build their gifts into a brand.

 

PROBLEM THREE: Eskom and its load shedding is perhaps one of the most common frustrations shared by all South Africans.  It is true that South Africa is being affected by a myriad of country wide ills; however, some of them are more regional than others, or affects specific parts of the population different.  With load shedding the entire country, from private industries to individual households, is affected negatively.  The only difference throughout South Africa is how long a region loses electricity for.  For instance, it is only two hours for the Cape Town area, while Durban feels the effects for more than eight hours.

 

SOLUTION:  In efforts to address these three principle concerns, iLanga Art was born.  iLanga Art makes art on canvas (various methods, such as painting, Street Art, and mix-material) more functional, by lighting the canvas from behind.  iLanga Art is contemporary art on canvas taken to the next level.  The lighting feature will allow the artist to highlight the story behind their works, as well as turning the art into a light feature.  The art will be done by some of the most promising emerging artists, living in Cape Town, giving them the opportunity to gain recognition. iLanga Art will allow them the business platform to reach customers and build their own brand, while developing the brand equity of iLanga Art, itself.  Lastly, the light bulb used is a LED rechargeable light, which runs off electricity.  It stores enough charge to last up to seven hours without a power source, making it ideal for load shedding times.  This further increases the functionality of the art.  Consumers will be able to buy art that attracts them, as they can justify the purchase.  Not only will it look amazing in their home, it will also be a lighting solution that works when experiencing load shedding.  When the electricity is cut, iLanga Art will turn on. 

 

Each artists or group of artists involved will be given a theme to interpret through her or his works of art.  These themes will be the solutions for some of the national issues South Africa is presently facing, or points that bring people together.  This will allow iLanga Art to have relevance to today’s South Africans.  Ideally, it will stimulate customers to generate their own solutions and increase the dialogue towards positive change and development within this wonderful, dynamic nation.