When Art Becomes Your Life...

Fhatuwani Mukheli loves nothing more than transporting you to his creative world. The co-founder and director of I See ADifferent You tells us why he uses art to narrate his own story

- Katidi Jane

“My business partners Vuyo Mpanthsa, Neo Mashigo and I established I See A Different You in 2011 because we were tired of people, especially the media, narrating a black story or telling us as black people how were.

Not only is the business a creative agency, but it is also a production house that focuses on content creation such as film and photography. Through this platform, we wanted to change the perception of outside people about our lives, especially Soweto, where we grew up. I am still part of I See A Different You as the co-founder and director. It started as a photography blog. The meaning behind the name is that since we all know that there are always negative connotations about people or townships, and everything around us, we wanted to change that perception; we see a different and positive side to people and things.

I have always been an artist.

I discovered my talent and love for fine art when I was seven years old. However, I didn’t take it too seriously throughout my upbringing, but I used it partially when I began my career in advertising as an art director, and when establishing our platform.

It was Neo, Vuyo, and my twin brother Rendani, who have always pushed and encouraged me to take art seriously as they believed was talented.