Buy art & craft
Browse locally sourced art, we'll make a plan to get it to you.
From small Cape Town site to CNN feature…So what?!
We have recently been featured on CNN, which is some of the most awesome exposure that a new startup of our kind could ever dream of! Please don’t be fooled, this post is not here for us to brag or gloat, but to answer the popular question of how it happened, what it meant to us and our artists and just how possible it is for others out there to do the same.
So, how did it happen?
I was pleasantly surprised when I received a phone call by Emily Wither, a writer for CNN, a couple of weeks ago saying that she had found our website and wanted to feature it on the ‘Inside Africa’ section of CNN. We were ecstatic and overwhelmed at the opportunity to be featured on such a large news distributor!
She asked us about the project, what it’s all about and if a couple of artists would be happy to answer some questions and if we could send some photos over.
With much excitement we jumped at the opportunity and contacted artists, Alex and Lawson. We explained the ‘massiveness’ of this opportunity and and set up time to run through their ‘interview’ questions, they were very cool calm and collected as any superstar would be!
We then called up photographer and writer Anton Crone who had recently interviewed us for a feature on his photographic blog Bright Continent and in an article in the May issue of ‘Screen Africa’ magazine. He had generously offered that he would take professional photos for African Cartel when we needed and we thought he’d be perfect for this!
Anton, Hugh and myself daytripped into Delft to visit the artists and take photos of them in their home and work environment. Despite the horrific weather and harsh reality of the kinds of living conditions these artists live in, it was an awesome day for everyone. You can read more about it in his article here.
Anton taking pictures of Lawson's township art
Alex in his mobile workshop with a keen onlooker. Picture by: Anton Crone
Hugh and one of the artists little sprogs. Picture by: Anton Crone
With some awesome shots taken by Anton and the honest answers provided by the artists we sent all of this off to CNN. At their request we opened up access to our short film ‘Robot Artists’, they wanted to edit it down to a shorter more suitable version for the site. All was in order.
Emily told us to expect the article to be live in the next couple of weeks, however the web being as unpredictable as it is, all was not as it seemed. Not even three days passed and I received a polite message from my friend Andrew on twitter “hey Xen, did you see this article on CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/02/zimbabwe.artists.cape.town/index.html?hpt=hp_c1″
It was on the Homepage of CNN! The first three calls I made that day were to my artistic hero partner Hugh and of course the two stars of the story Lawson and Alex! It made me chuckle when Alex’s excited but pragmatic response was ‘Wow that’s great! Let’s hope it generates some more sales’ – couldn’t have spoken truer words!
So what?
As a result of this exposure, we have had a multitude of email enquiries to answer, several orders and some very generous donations to the workshop we’re trying to raise funds for (Oh and I have to mention the slog until 4am the following morning answering the emails and sorting out unexpected shipping ‘quirks’ on the site!) One response which has impacted us in a large way was a lady contacting us all the way from the USA. She had read the article and had been moved, she was offering to contribute all of her late sisters art materials to us in her legacy and send them over from the USA – unbelievably awesome!
We’ve had such a great response from this one article that it really makes you stop and be blown away by how valuable this ‘interweb thing’ is. What a humbling and awesome experience, and on that has had a direct impact on the artists! The coverage wasn’t about African Cartel, nor was it about the people that started it, but it’s about the artists behind it and power the internet can have when people find starting something they believe in, do something about it and just get it out there!
Fantastic stuff, Xen! Well done on moving so fast to take hold of the opportunity.
I discovered your website through that CNN story. It was a pleasant surprise.
I am currently living in East London, South Africa (originally from the Philippines). I’ve seen many artists like them here and I must say, I now have a better appreciation for what they do after I heard about these guys’ stories. Keep up the good work. I wish you all the best!
Thanks for the great comments guys, the support means alot!
congratulations! ^__^ i actually found your site when i typed Robots in Trouble which is actually my online shop, but I stumbled upon you guys! And i’m happy that i did! keep up the good work!
-abby
This is an amazing development. Just really hope this translates into more sales and exposure. It would be great if some of the local media would pick up this story and of course some local businesses come to the party to support this initiative – A start-up that’s making international waves…
Thanks very much for the comments.
Abby – I agree, this web ‘thing’ amazes me everyday how you can simply stumble upon new an different ideas. Your little Robot badges are very creative aswell, all the best with your business!
Wendy – Thanks for the support, it has been great coverage and has indeed helped with sales. Yes, I agree some local involvement would be a great development! Let’s see what we can do…
This is awesome on so many levels. Well-deserved!
Thanks Motheo. Hope your music career is taking off! How are the shirts going?
Great stuff, well done. I read it over here in the US. I want to buy one of these prints from my apartment!. Get some of those things lined up from Durban artists who make things out of coke cans etc. Love it
Thanks Dean. Glad to hear your read it over there!
Unfortunately no Durban artists up yet but many a talented Cape Town based artists using the tin and nail materials to choose from – why not have your selection here? http://www.africancartel.com/artist-type/robot-art/