Bolingo was born out of love, (the name itself means “love” in Lingala) a sense of community and expression of creativity. We offer our customers an opportunity to unique Afro-inspired art. Our vision and mission draw their inspiration from our values of empathy, heritage, creative expression, freedom-of-beingness, and chief among them, LOVE.
The Bolingo Story is entering a new chapter. Over the years, we have built a wonderful community, whether you started with us or joined us along the way, you have been part of this exciting journey, during which we created a great impact towards bringing African music into the German mainstream.
We have expanded that impact by creating a platform for afrocentric Artists to sell their artworks on http://stage.bolingo.com. On the 22nd of April, we went LIVE. You can now buy art, Bolingo event tickets, and passes to partner events all in one platform.
At Bolingo, we know the love and dedication that goes into creating art, as such, our prices reflect this labour of love. The artists who work with us get an absolute fair share of the proceeds from the sales, meaning whenever you purchase at Bolingo, you show your love for rare talent and bring more beauty and diversity into our world. We want our artists to grow and for you to enjoy the best prices. This is why we give 50% of the price to the artist and the other half goes into running the business. We work with our artists on getting the best price for their art. Of course, we listen to you, our customers, to cater to your needs. This way, it’s Love’s Labour’s Won and not Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Walls lying down become bridges, when they have art on them, they become galleries and transform spaces into living spaces.
Discover African Artists
At Bolingo, you can buy original art prints from our community of artists, printed and shipped on demand.
Art is a beautiful way of extending ourselves into the cradle of eternity, whether we are creating it or gazing upon it adds life to a space. Artful spaces become living spaces. So, why don’t you extend your life by buying all the art you can get and become immortal.
We have noticed that African artists either get ignored, or pushed out of the market, yet the amount of talent that abounds in the continent and in the diaspora is immense.
African art wasn’t even considered as an important part of the cultural capital of the world. Sotheby’s didn’t have its bi-annual Modern & Contemporary African Art auction until almost five years ago. Yet, we know African art is valuable, there is no doubt about that, I mean, look at the British Museum, and certain Western art galleries replete with marauded African art, and the noble work of notable African artists. We want to be at the helm of steering the economics of art in the region and beyond. How? First, we want to start with the wall décor market.
African art sales account for less than 1% of all global art sales at Sotheby’s and worldwide, with Sotheby’s having the biggest volume of sales. However, it is a segment that is expected to develop much more in the coming years.
The worldwide wall décor market may be broken down into two categories: wall décor goods and distribution channels. The global wall art market was $46.33 billion in 2020, $48.50 billion in 2021, and expected to be $72.61 billion in 2028, with the African continent and its creatives receiving very little of it.
What’s Next After Launch?
We have noticed the massive talent on the continent and want to tap into this massive potential by not only selling African Art worldwide and online, but also creating exclusive art events in the African continent and Diaspora regions such as the UK, US, and France. Thereby, we will be bringing our expertise of crafting and holding events into great use.
Moreover, our aim is to become the premier NFT strategic partner in Africa and to those who make Afro-inspired art.
Last but not least, our intention is to be a financial partner to our artists through Embedded Finance e.g. wallets and partnerships with financial institutions.
From Bolingo With Love
