Following ARTSPLIT‘s informative afternoon where panelists such as actor Maps Maponyane and art curator Anelisa Mangcu touched on important topics such as investment in contemporary art, Nounouche decided to catch up with Lungi Morrison who is the Director of Partnerships & Alliance at ARTSPLIT on this innovative platform that they have created.

According to Lungi, ARTSPLIT is an art trading technology company with a single goal. ”Our goal is to improve African art’s investment status by allowing users to co-own rare and valuable artworks on a platform that ensures price discovery and market liquidity,” she said. 

“By developing the African art ecosystem through technology and co-ownership, we aim to position African art and artists as the preferred alternative investment choice. This way, we believe we can make wealth accessible for everyone through alternative investments.”

Lungi revealed that the ARTSPLIT app has been in development since last year June but they had a lot of learning to do in the process.

“As with every novel innovation, the team has had to learn and understand how the industry works, talks and feels. As such, we have had to put in hours of painstaking research and engagements with key players across the value chain in the African art industry and the wider world.”

“For us, the goal was first to leverage our multi-disciplinary background and technology to provide a solution that will go a long way in changing the game in the industry. And since 2021, when we began, we are proud to have come this far and look forward to doing even more in the future.”

Lungi further shared that at the core of ARTSPLIT, their solution is to offer a personalised and bespoke experience to their users across the value chain – to ensure that that they are comfortable with putting their artwork on the platform. 

“This may mean that they have personal account managers on hand to help them navigate the finer details of how to list, trade, collect and earn from the app. Also, our eager-to-help customer support team is available 24/7 to ensure users get the best experience per time on the platform,” she said. 

Lungi whose career in the art industry spans over two decades also shared with Nounouche that ARTSPLIT is free for all African artists both on the continent and in the diaspora to join. 

“For us, the plan has always been to create a platform that provides real-time access to price discovery and always ensures market liquidity. However, they must pay a one-time listing fee to put up their works for sale in the Open Market. Alternatively, they can also list investment-grade artworks for split/lease auctions,” she said. 

In five years’ time, Lungi also exclusively shared that they want to see ARTSPLIT beyond just being the most significant art market in the world.