Silindile Sihlangu’s popularity grew while he was a learner at Khanyolwethu High School, between 2000 and 2003. His teachers then motivated and encouraged his work. He said he also assisted other learners with their assignments.
Most people in black communities do not understand art and they take it for granted, said a local artist, Silindile Sihlangu.
The Mount Frere-born and now Lwandle resident wants to change the negative perception people have about art. “Most people do not take you seriously when you do art,” he said. “They don’t see it as a career.”
Having started art as a child in the Eastern Cape, Sihlangu now knows nothing else. “I started drawing at an early age while at primary school in Mt Frere in Eastern Cape,” he said. “I used to draw cartoons and sometimes drew on the chalkboard. But I was doing it for fun.”
Sihlangu’s popularity grew while he was a learner at Khanyolwethu High School, between 2000 and 2003. His teachers then motivated and encouraged his work. He said he also assisted other learners with their assignments.
“I started charging other learners when I assisted them on their projects. I used to assist learners who were in classes ahead of me. When they had an assignment they would ask me to do it for them and pay me.” Sihlangu said getting the money inspired him a lot.
He said, in 2006, while studying entrepreneurship at Business School at the University of Cape Town he received a scholarship from the Ackerman Family Foundation.
In 2009 Sihlangu registered at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Woodstock, where he got a National Diploma.
“It is important to empower oneself all the time in this industry,” he said. “To be a great artist one must be dedicated and love what one is doing. Also, don’t come here if you are after money.”
Sihlangu pointed out that artists use their skill to express themselves, and urged parents to stop choosing careers for their offspring.
