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“With ‘Art Meets’, technology becomes a force for positive social impact, spreading culture widely in the region and contributing to a more favorable environment for artistic exploration and growth.” - Jury, Ars Electronica x CultTech Social Impact Award, 2023
The Art Meets app connects artists, cultural professionals and audiences in Africa, through a digital ecosystem for local and supranational networking.
The Art Meets collective, active in South Africa’s cultural scene since 2013, has launched a new digital platform to bring artists, curators, audiences, and art spaces closer together. Known for their creative projects—from site-specific exhibitions to documentaries and podcasts—Art Meets is now expanding their work with the innovative Art Meets mobile application, cultivating networks that promote growth and development within art spaces.
You can find details of the RMB Latitudes Talks Programme on the Art Meets app, now available for download on Google Play and Apple iStore.
Led by cofounders Michaela Limberis, Precious Mhone and Tammy Langtry, Art Meets were the recipients of the 2020 Prince Claus Mobility Fund in partnership with The British Council. The grant supported Art Meets’ further research for the mobile app through a series of online gatherings bringing together more than 50 artists and cultural professionals from across the continent. Lerato Motshwarakgole (Ora Loapi, Botswana), Oyindamola Fakaye (CCA Lagos), Ibrahim Mahama (SCCA, Tamale), Timothy Leibrandt (ArtThrob, South Africa), Rebecca Corey (NAFASI, Tanzania) were amongst the participants. These curated sessions provided deeper insights into various local contexts and respective needs.
In 2023, Art Meets received the Presidential Employment Stimulus Fund (PESP3) administered by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), enabling the team to expand and bring their platform to life over an intensive 6-month period. Art Meets worked with project manager Thoriso Moseneke to assemble a team of talented software developers, UX/UI designers, cultural professionals and artists to work collectively on the project as a fully remote team. Later that year the Art Meets app won the Ars Electronica x CultTech Social Impact Award at the Ars Electronica Festival for Art, Technology and Society (Linz, Austria).
Partnerships were formed to provide ongoing case studies in building for local projects and contexts, including a key collaboration with the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) on mapping their podcast series UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa (led by Siviwe James) in Ilali, rural Eastern Cape, foregrounding remote locations as key sites of knowledge formation.
At the heart of this app is connection and collaboration. Through an interactive virtual map, users can explore art spaces, discover events, and communicate using the in-app messaging feature. Whether you're an artist looking for opportunities, a curator searching for collaborators, an aspiring collector, or someone simply passionate about African art, the app makes it easier to find and connect with people and places that matter.
The long-term goal? To build a strong, sustainable network of African art communities where creatives can grow their audiences, build professional relationships, and thrive together. Art Meets is committed to making arts and culture something everyone can take part in.
The Art Meets App accommodates varied levels of arts infrastructure, with the aim to override systems of economic exclusion to build local and international audiences and professional networks, beginning locally. The project is being launched in South Africa as a testing ground to further research and expand through partner locations in other regions in Africa.
Project Team Credits
Michaela Limberis, Precious Mhone, Tammy Langtry (cofounders): research, conceptual development, partnerships, communications Athini Bashe (lead developer), AFRI (project partner), Carlin Eloff (Lead UX/UI designer) Duduetsang Lamola (blk banaana) (graphics), Loice Mwai (development), Mandla Shonhiwa (UX/UI platform design), Micah De Jager (design intern), Melissa Griesl (social media manager), Munashe Hilton Matyatya (in-app icons), Pyda (copy), Shane Mkhize (development), Thoriso Moseneke (project manager), Bohlale Kobe (intern).
Further Reading In Articles
African Artist Directory