For many artists, the hardest part of making a living from art is being seen. Artists create approximately 25 to 50 artworks a year, with an estimated 5 million active artists globally producing between 125 million and 250 million new artworks annually. Yet most of this work remains unseen and unsold, with 85% of artists earning very little from their creative practice.
New Cape Town-born platform Artsifi was created to help change that reality by giving artists an accessible route to showing their work to the immediate community, outside of crowded social media feeds and traditional gallery gatekeeping.
Officially opened to artists in April 2026, Artsifi is a micro-gallery platform that places elegant, made-for-art digital canvases in cafés and other creative social spaces. Artists join the Artsifi community by creating an online profile and uploading their work for display in participating venues. Viewers who see a piece can scan the QR code on the display to go directly to the artist’s profile, where they can make contact.
The platform helps create connections between artists and venues without exorbitant commissions or sales fees. It also removes the need for artists to approach venues directly, which can often feel intimidating or create an additional hurdle on their path to success.
Artsifi is already live in Cape Town across Stellski Coffee Bar & Cafés in Woodstock, the city centre and Wisbeach in Sea Point, as well as Novaccino, a new 3D printing and tech café in Woodstock. Since opening to artists, Artsifi has grown to 348 uploaded artworks, with 90 artworks currently live on display, while supporting 44 artists.
Founded by Brett Lancaster, a Capetonian entrepreneur with 19 years’ experience in the technology industry, the idea began close to home. His wife, Kim Lancaster, is an artist, and during a First Thursday occasion in April 2023 they arranged for her artwork to be displayed in a coffee shop. The venue loved the concept and kept the display, with the artwork being updated for more than a year before Lancaster saw the opportunity to open the idea to other artists.
“Artsifi is not trying to replace galleries or sell work on behalf of artists. It is another plug point for exposure,” says Lancaster. “A lot of great work is finished, placed in a corner, and never seen. With Artsifi, an artist can upload a piece and have it shown in a real space where people are already sitting, talking, drinking coffee and taking in their surroundings.”
Artsifi offers venues a low-effort way to refresh interiors, support local creativity and create a more distinctive atmosphere without the logistical work of sourcing, framing, hanging and rotating physical artwork. Venue managers can also guide what appears in their space through filters such as subject, tone and category.
“Artsifi has brought a new layer of character to our space,” says Megan Kritzinger, Owner at Stellski’s Coffee Bar & Café. “It gives our customers something local and creative to discover while they are here, and it allows us to support South African artists in a way that feels natural to the café experience.”
While the platform’s current footprint is local, Lancaster’s long-term vision is to grow a global platform that allows any city, from Cape Town to London or Paris, to support the artists in its own community.
Artists and venues interested in joining Artsifi can visit www.Artsifi.com