Aartzy is an e-commerce platform for paintings, photography, sculptures, and prints. Initiated in 2018, the platform has since expanded its reach to include a broad spectrum of artists.
The platform was originally launched to function as a market hub for Sri Lankan artists to showcase their skills and make sales without a daunting overhead. What has made the platform truly special is that, in addition to it being the only such dedicated space for Lankan artists to come together, the platform prioritizes those artists who lack the resources to get online themselves.
Why create Aartzy?
Aartzy Founder Janaka Perera, with over two decades of experience in sales, marketing, and business administration, stated that regardless of not being an artist himself, he clearly understood the hardships local artists must endure.
He shared the incident that led him to take time off his well-established career to launch this platform:
"We were looking to buy some art for a colleague's parting gift, and we chose a rainy day with heavy overcast to go in search of this item and, of course, we made our way over to Green Path. There, considering the unfortunate weather, we found just one artist displaying his work from the back of a van due to the rain, and we got to talking. He shared that he is a third-generation artist and his entire family relied on his earnings to survive, and that it was extremely tough. This is when I got to thinking: Is there any way I could help?" he said.
Janaka said that regardless of the product, marketing is the same. Despite it requiring just a few interested parties, in Sri Lanka, there remains no independent platform for artists to promote their work. There are very limited ways to get visibility for one's work — exhibitions, art fairs like “Kala Pola,” etc. — and these are not sufficient or year-round.
He also mentioned that when developing his online platform — which was a no-brainer from a marketing perspective — he had to consider that Sri Lanka as a market is not yet mature enough to buy art online. Art is not considered essential, and negotiation is in a Lankan's DNA.
Janaka shared that it is frustrating to see those who love art leave it behind because they cannot generate sufficient income to live on. He firmly believes artists should focus solely on creating, while a third party should handle the marketing component.
"If the artist has to be concerned about all the other elements, then their creativity suffers, work gets commercialized, and they become influenced by market conditions," he said.
How the platform works
Essentially, you appoint your Aartzy contact as your representative — a collaborative partner who takes care of all the elements necessary to get eyes on your work and make a sale. Janaka shared that initially, they brought artists onto the platform by painstakingly going through their personal contacts and meeting with each one in person.
"We initially reached out to artists in and around our area, made appointments, and visited their homes and studios," he said. Initially, there was some resistance, but once artists realized that the intention was purely to benefit them, word of mouth helped Aartzy grow rapidly.
Aartzy is especially suitable for artists who do not have the means to go online themselves. Janaka stated that they build the artist's profile from the ground up — photographing the work, processing images, creating titles, writing descriptions, uploading, promoting, and coordinating until a sale is made and the work is delivered to the buyer.
Creating an artist profile is imperative since identity is essential. The Aartzy team works carefully on color balancing, realistic previews, and presentation, while advising artists on strategy and visibility.
Janaka said that Aartzy exists primarily to create value for artists' work. Traditional galleries often take up to 50% of the artist’s earnings and decide which works to display. With Aartzy, artists have two options: they can either provide a commission on sales (with all admin work done free of charge), or include the commission price on top of the artwork price. This way, the artist receives their expected value.
He added that they do not negotiate on the artist’s expected price. “The expected price is very important — it is the inherent value appointed by the artist to their work, and it is theirs to have,” he said, emphasizing that most artists are not well-off, and this is their livelihood, not to be taken advantage of.
Aartzy during Covid-19
Janaka shared that at present, they are operating with a small team of just five individuals. They rely on referrals and have adopted a transparent, trustworthy approach where actions speak louder than words.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, their concept became a necessity. Many artists suffered losses and opted to go online, helping Aartzy grow exponentially. The platform also became an inspiration hub for artists, encouraging them to explore and improve their creative work before featuring it.
Having started primarily focused on local and expat Lankan artists, Aartzy has since expanded to include international creators as well. However, Janaka noted that their main focus remains on promoting Sri Lankan talent, particularly to expats in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, and Europe.
“All Sri Lankans around the world want a little bit of home,” he said, explaining that cultural paintings especially tend to become popular among these expats.
The complete article can be found at http://www.themorning.lk/say-no-to-taking-advantage-of-our-artists/
Dimithri Wijesighe (The Sunday Morning, 2020)
