Artists
teaching
artists.
A peer-to-peer masterclass series where South African artists share how they build sustainable careers.
Why we started SGDI
An artist’s career doesn’t come with a starting salary. You figure things out as you go, learning from what you see and from the people willing to share how they did it. We started SGDI so artists early in their careers can get that knowledge sooner, directly from artists who’ve done the work. There’s empathy in hearing ‘this was my experience’ from another artist. They can tell you what they tried, what it cost and what they’d do differently. That gives you something concrete to work with when you’re making your own decisions.
What teaching gives back
Teaching gives artists the space to put words to what they do and why they do it. That vocabulary carries into interviews and business pitches, where artists also need to think like entrepreneurs and explain how their work creates value.
How this works
01 / The Conversation
A peer discussion with artists sharing practical experience.
02 / The Case Study
Unpacks the decisions behind one artist’s body of work.
Meet the founder
ByLwansta
Founder and Programme Coordinator
ByLwansta is a South African rapper, producer, designer and founder of NORMVL. He’s spent years releasing his own music, building live platforms like Your Weekly Touch Up and mentoring independent artists. SGDI grew out of a question he kept coming back to in that work: how much sooner could artists make informed decisions if someone who’d already done it talked them through the process?
