British Council Connect ZA partnered with Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival 2017 in hosting ColabNowNow this September. ColabNowNow, a 10 day digital collaboration platform, invited 15 digital artists and storytellers from Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK . The programme curated by Jepchumba, African art and technology cultural ambassador, was arranged in a way to encourage fresh collaboration.
Nyasha Madamombe, a visual artist from Zimbabwe says the biggest takeaway for her was connection and meeting fellow artists as well as more experienced people in the sector:
"We had a mixer with the guys from BASA (Business and Arts South Africa). They spoke to us about how they work with art in business – something that was very eye opening for me. Because as an artist, I’m just thinking about creating work. I’m not necessarily thinking about how I’m going to work with my art as a business. The conversation we had was amazing because what they talked about how they are able to spot what your assets are and not wait for someone to look for you and help you. That actually what you already have is what you can work with to makes something of yourself. That was huge for me."