Curator Lungi Morrison’s quest to revolutionise investment in African art through technology

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

Speaking to curator Lungi Morrison, words such as inclusion, equality and diversity come out of her mouth fast and furious. No, she is not the angry type, but a solution centred person when it comes to the transformation of the art trade on the African continent.

Morrison is quite aware that a big section of the population, especially in her native South Africa are excluded from participation in the art trade with regard to access to art in general and investing in art in particular.

Part of the reason is historical, but part of it is due to the fact that there is not enough discussion and therefore education going on to inform the public in general, and the emerging black middle class in particular that has disposable income about opportunities that exist in contemporary art.

These opportunities range from collecting art for pure enjoyment of it, such as when one collects music, wine or even cars, to collecting art to build an investment portfolio. This is where Morrison and her team come in and they have found an innovative way of doing so, using technology.

“It is important that there must be equity and inclusion when it comes to access to art, especially for investment purposes. There are simply not enough black people participating in the art economy in South Africa and on the continent, and yet art produced in Africa has increasingly become the one thing that could change perceptions about the continent as the world is shifting and focussing increasingly on contemporary art from Africa,” Morrison tells CITYLIFE/ARTS in an interview recently.

She had just flown in to Johannesburg from Cape Town where she is currently based.

Morrison and her team are in fact doing something about opening up

These opportunities firstly for young black people to participate in collecting art for investment purposes, and secondly for African galleries and artists to list their artworks with them.

Morrison is a partner in a Pan African company that is aimed at making it easy for black people to participate in investing in art, no matter the size of their pocket. Morrison is the local partner for ARSPLIT, which uses an APP to enable anyone to own part of an art work, that is listed on the APP by the company. ARTSPLIT which was formed in April 2022, by British-Nigerian businesswoman Onyinye Anyaegbu has presence in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Having been launched in South Africa on the side lines of the just ended FNB ART Joburg.

Morrison drives the South African operations of ARTSPLIT which has ambitions to have more branches in other African countries to become a truly Pan African technology art company.

And because education is key in opening up opportunities for more people to participate in the art trade, Morrison and her team are planning to hold talks and engage with especially young people, encouraging them to participate in the art trade.

“We are using technology to do so because young people are tech-savvy and use technology in their daily lives. So through field research we found young people very receptive as they signed up on the APP. And what is attractive about this opportunity is the fact that one does not need a lot of money to own part of an artwork as you can invest as little as 10 US dollars and watch your investment grow. Some of these art works can be leased out for a period of say three months and that way the art work can earn money for investors, and so by investing in an art work through the APP, not only does it make you a part owner of an artwork, but you can also see your investment grow. And should you want to withdraw your money, you can do so anytime through the APP,” explained Morrison.

Morrison, a passionate Pan Africanist who lived in a number of African countries as she was born in exile in Nigeria of her activist parents who were in exile, she has also lived in Zimbabwe  among other countries before coming back home in South Africa after freedom. She believes art is the one thing that can make Africa a proud part of the globe because there is so much talent on the continent when it comes to creating art that has the ability to spark conversations and tell the African story to the world better.

About ARTSPLIT

An emerging application that is called ARTSPLIT is an art trading technology company driven by one common goal, enhancing the investment status of

African art by allowing users to co-own rare and valuable artworks on a platform that guarantees price discovery and market liquidity. 

ARTSPLIT provides opportunities for collectors of prestigious African artworks to list their works, and have them evaluated and accrued by a curatorial board for listing.

In order to maximize revenues for its customers, ARTSPLIT then carefully selects a broad portfolio of investment-grade African works for its app. Every suitable investment-grade work of art that is listed on ARTSPLIT's platform is

fractionated into shares, and trading of these units allows for efficient price discovery and real-time appraisal of the individual works of art. 

ARTSPLIT offers a platform for newly established artists to sell their works directly to users. The 3rd of September 2022 all art lovers and art collectors gathered together to the amazing panel talk focusing on the Tech and; leapfrogging investment in contemporary African art where the likes of Maps Maponyane, Siwa Mgboboza, Karabo Morule, Anelisa Mangcu, Onyinye Anyaegbu, Buli Maliza and Lungi Morrison were leading the panel. Prominent artists of South Africa came in numbers to witness the newest art that’s infused with tech, the Panel talk was a success.