To bring the Artist Alliance vision to life, we have collaborated with 5 cutting-edge young artists, creatives and creators. Each of them have graciously brought their unique artistic voice to help us tell the Artist Alliance story. We encourage you to follow their pages, read their stories and support their initiatives #LiveArtBeHeard Gcobisa Yako25, filmmakerMy name is Gcobisa Yako and we were born in the small city of Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape. We have a BA in psychology and philosophy and an honours in directing and writing.Currently, we are based in Cape Town exploring the commercial space to garner more experience, however - documentary is our true love. Archiving being our soulmate.Our experience in existing in both the rural and suburban areas forced us to realise the beauty the rurals hold despite its poverty-stricken reality - and thus developed our passion in exploring the beauty of areas where marginalized communitieshave created spaces for themselves.Our aim is to create a cinema representative of the versatility and ordinary lives of black and brown South Africans, archive it all so that those who come after us have some kind of blue print as opposed to the blank canvas we find ourselves trying to colour with very little sense of direction and history.Read More Robyn Keyser27, Fashion Designer, founder Artclub & FriendsArtclub and Friends is a unisex label handcrafted in Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded by Robyn Keyser in November 2016, because she wanted to build a people-focused brand that all artists can call home. A brand where artists can express themselves freely and trust that support will always be available to them on their journeys.We are artists, who work with artists to make clothes for artists. We're here for the dreamers, the creators and the innovators. But beyond making beautiful clothes to inspire you to get up and chase your dreams, we exist to reconnect you to the profound process of making clothes - the stories of the people and their hands that make it all possible.Read More Talia Ramkilawan25, Fine ArtsCentral to Talia Ramkilawan’s practice is rug hooking, a slow, accumulative process with which she creates her “tapestry adjacent” wall pieces. Her more recent preoccupations include platonic intimacy as expressed in text (the words of friends spoken or sent). “My work is about forging a sense of community and healing particular to the post-apartheid generation,” she offers. “It deals with subverting the image of family trauma by healing through making and by creating a presence. I have placed an emphasis on community and the ‘Indian experience’ – which is so important in cultural and art production – disrupting the linear narrative, exposing how traumas of the past resonate in the present. My inspiration comes from my own family dynamics and my own specific experience with South Asian identity, culture, and trauma." Talia is an artist and teacher living and working in Cape Town.Read More Ishaarah Arnold27, Graphic Designer and IllustratorIshaarah is a Cape Town born-and-raised graphic designer and illustrator with 6 years agency experience across design disciplines - from illustration to branding to art direction to user interface design.In 2014 Ishaarah graduated with a final year Cum Laude at the University of Stellenboch with a four-year Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts, Visual Communications Design. In 2016 she was selected as part of the class of Emerging Creatives from the prestigious Design Indaba for her illustration work; which has led to media features in publications like Visi Magazine as well as national radio and TV appearances.In 2021, Ishaarah launched a ten-piece collection with global giant SHEIN. The collection features her latest illustration style where use of bold colours and continuous lines speak to the emotion and diversity of everyday life.Read More Tandile Mbatsha25, Performance artistTandile is a performance artist, choreographic-activist, educator, speaker, host, producer, model and scholar based in Cape Town, South Africa. They have performed at PERFORMA17 Biennale in New York and featured in Zoe Modiga's set at Afropunk. Performed an art installation with Viviers Studio at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair and opened for FAKA at the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival. Produced the Solo Ball, a film, on the virtual National Arts Festival curated programme and recently hosted and managed the event for Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education’s Pocket Queerpedia launch. They have also worked with internationally acclaimed artist Zanele Muholi.Tandile premiered their work ‘Intyatyambo Iyaphuma Engxondorheni’ at Gavin Krastin’s Arcade, an annual nomadic platform. They seek to break hegemonic notions of existence through the use of performance art to bring about critical awareness of the LGBTIQ+ community. They identify as a gender non-conforming body living in an intersectional “male” body and are a masters candidate at the Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies through the Institute for Creative Arts.Read More #LiveArtBeHeard
