A young, talented and passionate local craftsman wants to be the first young person to own an art gallery in Alexandra.
Thabiso Maredi (20) who lives with his parents and his younger sister in 14th Avenue said he was inspired by his older brother who used to draw pictures to decorate his house.
“When I was six years old, I would copy the work of my elder brother Walter Rashidi to acquaint myself with drawing. As I grew older I fell in love with art, which was something that many people didn’t understand, including my parents. When my brother moved to Soweto, I used his tools to sharpen my drawing skills,” he said.
“When I was in high school in 2017, I entered art competitions to scale my talent and I won a number of those competitions and those awards boosted my confidence in my work. One day I saw Heath Hlatshwayo’s work from KwaZulu-Natal posted on Facebook and I started communicating with him. He mentored me and gave me tips on how to do good drawings.”
Maredi said after this, he started visiting art galleries around Johannesburg to learn more about the artwork and art industry. “What I’ve realised was that many people, especially in black communities, are not exposed to art. It’s one sector with a high potential to boost our economy and profession that can be exploited to minimise high rate of unemployment in the country. We have many talented artists in our community but the challenge is lack of education and information.”
He said he had applied at the University of Johannesburg to study art in 2020 and was hoping that the knowledge he will acquire will help him in his future plans to open an art gallery.
Details: Thabiso Maredi 071 5557 593.
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