
Standard Bank collaborates with award-winning visual artist Blessing Ngobeni
Standard Bank is collaborating with Blessing Ngobeni, an award-winning visual artist and 2020 recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award, to broaden access to his work through a pilot concept aimed at the bank’s employees. Blessing is renowned for creating abstract visual art from materials such as magazines and newspaper.
His artistic expressions will be displayed on customised apparel and homeware range at Standard Bank's newly launched brand and lifestyle store – 1862 - which is located at its 30 Baker Street headquarters in Rosebank, Gauteng.
Yolisa Koza, Head of Brand Experience at Standard Bank Group, explains: "We launched our 1862 bespoke brand store last year to pay homage to our rich heritage through a brand touchpoint that allows our employees to touch, feel, wear, and experience our brand, as well as other product collaborations that resonate with our vision and purpose. Teaming up with Blessing allows Standard Bank employees to access his creative vision through an exclusive collection of items such as hats, shirts, and scarves that he has personally signed to guarantee their authenticity.”
Blessing expressed his delight about the collaboration, saying, “I'm deeply grateful that the direction and opportunity I've been seeking are finally manifesting. I firmly believe that the journey of creative minds knows no bounds; it persists despite the scarcity of artistic resources. There's a saying that when art intersects with fashion, it breaks new ground, transcending budgetary constraints. I'm confident that my work will resonate with the right people, regardless of their earnings from diverse hustling endeavours.”
The collaboration with Blessing is Standard Bank's first foray into using secondary brand cues from its broad and diverse arts sponsorship portfolio, with the goal of enabling better access to the work of artists who have received the coveted Young Artist Award. These are mutually beneficial collaborations that result in relevant and creative experiences while showcasing artists to new audiences.
Standard Bank has a long history of nurturing and promoting young artistic talent. We're proud of the positive impact of growing our shared culture by partnering with artists and the broader community. We have a 40-year partnership with the National Arts Festival, and we've been sponsoring the Young Artist Awards for 30 years. The arts and artists have an amazing ability to inspire, influence change, educate, raise consciousness and unite us. We hope that projects of this nature will allow artists to broaden the spectrum of innovative ideas to enable them to grow commercially," says Koza.