art
Photo Credit: Supplied

Eleven organisations in various sectors are to be the recipients of funds raised from an auction after 180 artists donated their art for Mandela Day.

 

South Africa (17 July 2020) – This Mandela day, artists are coming together in an innovative ‘online auction’ to show their solidarity and support for NGOs across Cape Town. Artists4Equity is an online platform aimed at raising money for crucial community organisations in Cape Town by auctioning pieces of art to the highest ‘online bidder’. Artists can choose from a selection of ten organisations to donate the highest bid to, and upon proof of this donation, the artwork is posted to the highest bidder.

Over a hundred local and international artists have submitted their work in support this initiative through Instagram. Bidding has already begun with final bids ending at 8 pm on Sunday 19th July – the day after Mandela Day.

The initiative was started by Hannah Kaniki, who was inspired by her own life journey to spark this initiative.

“The beautiful thing about our generation and our community is that people are frustrated – for a good reason.’

Born to parents on refugee status in South Africa, and the last of nine children, Hannah is highly attuned to the hardship facing different communities in the city.

‘I’m frustrated for good reason – wanting to be recognised by South Africa [in terms of documentation -] but that there are many South Africans like me that are also not recognised by South Africa.’ 

A sense of exclusion is not unique to non-South African populations, and Hannah’s initiative aims to unite these different sentiments together and create action.

‘I think there is a large population of people who are frustrated who want to show up for one another and during this global pandemic’. 

As a result, her initiative connects socially-aware artists – who are willing to auction an art piece of theirs for charity – with ‘social media activists’ and NGOs, creating a triangular net.

Her project has gained such traction, she hopes that it will go further in raising wider awareness about issues facing different communities in Cape Town.

Mandela Day focuses our attention on what our nation’s father stood for: equal rights and liberation of the oppressed. Hannah recognised that the artist community often use their work to bring light to humanity and wanted to use this as a vehicle to bring action and support to local organisations.

“I saw a gap between the art world and the reality of those on the ground in the communities. Artists4Equity is about bridging that gap from speaking to actioning and facilitating aid. So much work and information has moved to social media that it makes sense that activism and initiatives start there. I took advantage of social media and virtual protesting to create a space for artists to care about equity in a very practical way.”

With over 180 art pieces up for auction, there is something for everyone. Make sure you bid before Sunday 8 pm to get your hands-on incredible pieces of art AND make a difference at the same time! You can join the auction here.

If minimum bids are met, the auction is set to raise over R100 000 for charity (this number is still climbing). Current bids come to R80 265 (so this is already raised from what people have committed to) 66% of the artwork already have bids on them.

Organisations that are being supported:

  • SWEAT @sweat.org.za
  • RAPE CRISIS @rapecrisis_capetown
  • KHAYALITSHA CAN @khayelitshacan
  • KEEP THE ENERGY @keeptheenergy
  • RESTORING HOPE @restoringhopect
  • RECLAIM THE CITY @reclaimthecitysa
  • JAMES HOUSE @jameshouse1986
  • SCALABRINI CENTRE @scalabrinict
  • FEMME PROJECTS @femmeprojects
  • HAPPY GIRLS SA @happygirls_sa
  • FEED SA @feedsa_

Below are examples of some of the art on auction.

Art


Sources: Supplied
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About the Author

Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues, animal welfare and social upliftment. Outside of Good Things Guy, she is an avid reader and lover of tea.

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