There are more than 800,000 stokvels in SA. Between them, they have about 11-million members, who together invest more than R50bn a year. Stokvels form a crucial part of the country’s economy, enabling collective saving and purchasing power.
Stokvels are also a source of community — and that, says artist Nono Motlhoki, is the major value proposition of Canvas Capital, the company she cofounded with fintech specialist Tokelo Matlou to apply the stokvel model to art collection. It’s one of those ideas that makes so much sense you wonder why no-one has thought of it before.
The pitch is simple: join a group of fellow aspirant collectors, make monthly contributions, and when your turn comes around you will acquire an artwork. You can sign up for a “societé” (Motlhoki and Motlau’s deft borrowing from art-speak to rebrand a stokvel “circle” of members) at a level that suits your means, between R1,000 and R10,000 a month.
Canvas Capital is neither a stokvel nor a fund manager, but rather a facilitator of stokvels for the art-enthusiastic or art-curious who have previously been hesitant about entering the market as buyers. After launching last month, the first societé is now ready for its July rotation.
“When we talk about community, we mean learning with others, making first-time collectors — and even those who have some experience of acquiring art — feel more comfortable in the visual arts sector,” says Motlhoki. “We’re trying to combat the sense of alienation experienced by many people in conventional gallery or auction environments.”
She notes that this initiative is partly inspired by the barriers she has faced in her own career as an artist: “When my work is shown in SA, it may be popular or critically acclaimed but it might not sell very well — we always hear, ‘The market is slow right now, the market this, the market that!’ It’s telling that most of the collectors for African work are in Europe. A lot needs to be done to expand the market base locally. How can we be more welcoming to potential buyers who are scared off because they think they don’t know enough about the art industry?”
So the stokvel model is not just about building shared capital but also about education — or, as Motlhoki puts it — “bridging the affordability gap as well as the cultural gap”. This can only benefit the arts sector more broadly, and so far Canvas Capital has received a positive response from traditional art dealers and gallerists.
There is a recognition that “emerging artists are too dependent on a system that cannot support everyone”, adds Motlhoki. “Artists struggle to establish themselves in the market, not just in SA but internationally. I think the global art industry has become destabilised, or at least disrupted in a good way; there are other initiatives out there, though very different from ours, trying to achieve something similar.”
Is Canvas Capital thinking of exporting the stokvel art collection model? Motlhoki jokes: “Global domination? I’m not opposed to that. But in all seriousness, yes, we are growing. We’ve started in Johannesburg and the next step is Cape Town. Then we’ll look to expand across Southern Africa and beyond.”
For now, they are actively looking for more local members (there are no limitations in terms of numbers within each stokvel or investment level) and building the curated collection of artworks available for acquisition, which numbers more than 700 pieces. A programme of societé gatherings — expert talks, workshops with industry insiders, gallery visits, artist meet-and-greets, studio tours — is already under way.
And when the time comes for members to choose works they want to collect, Motlhoki and Matlou have thought about each step along the way: from research reports on prospective acquisitions and a wider art advisory service, to insurance referrals, framing, handling, installation, maintenance and even inventory management. They are also experimenting with other models, such as artwork loans (“try before you buy”) and fractional ownership (having a share in a more expensive piece).
After speaking to Motlhoki, I catch myself thinking: if Canvas Capital ever did achieve “global domination”, that might not be a terrible outcome for art makers and art buyers worldwide.
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