Stanbic auctions autographed UB40 drawing

Sale will raise funds for charity and talented young Zambian artist

Stanbic Bank Zambia is holding a closed-bid auction for an autographed life-like drawing of iconic music group UB40, with proceeds from the auction to be channelled to charity and the talent behind the art.
The drawing by 23-year-old Silvester Mali was inspired by the Stanbic 2016 Jazz Festival’s main act featuring the platinum-selling band, and is currently on display at the Stanbic Bank Private Banking Suite at Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka.
“When Silvester approached us with the concept of the UB40 artwork, we were delighted at the opportunity to add a unique touch to the Jazz Festival, while at the same time promoting the two different forms of art alongside one another,” said Stanbic Public Relations and Communications Manager Chanda Chime-Katongo.
The drawing made its debut at the festival where it received rave reviews from festival- goers. However, it was UB40’s reaction that hit home for the young artist. He describes his encounter with the band’s original line-up of Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue, as ‘awesome, humbling and overwhelming’ as their reaction was truly encouraging.
“I thought of doing something in relation to what UB40 are putting across, as it’s what I do in connection with the music. Their music has impacted generations and their songs date back to before I was even born, but you can still see how it just lives on. My thought was to do something inspirational that would also live on, and my art is basically a vision of what we hear or what I’ve heard about their songs,” said Silvester.
With no prior professional training apart from the technical drawing and art classes he undertook in secondary school, Silvester is a self-taught art prodigy with a deep love for art and wildlife art, in particular. It is a passion that found its way to the surface when he was just 14, with the young artist landing his first major project working on a calendar for charity two years later.
“For a while I stopped art to focus on my studies and only took it up last year when I did work with Stanbic. We have no artist in my family and there was a time when I became demotivated but gradually the support started coming in from different places and I took it up again,” explained Silvester.
Silvester hopes to use his talent to inspire fellow youths to follow their dreams and also to undertake more charity work as he grows as an artist.

“Stanbic is an avid supporter of the arts, as whether it’s music, paintings, or theatre, it inspires and connects people to what they care about in one form or the other. We have been privileged to host the Music Festival for the third year and more so now that we were able to take it further and tie it in with charity work and empower a young artist in the process,” added Stanbic’s Chanda Chime-Katongo.
Part of the proceeds raised from the auction will go to the Kuchetekela Foundation, which educates underprivileged children, with the remainder going to Silvester.
Interested bidders may place their closed bids at the bank’s Private Banking Suite at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel or the nearest branch, or the Stanbic Bank Zambia Facebook page via direct message with ‘Stanbic Art’, followed by the bid amount in Kwacha. All bids to be submitted by 12pm Wednesday 30^th November, 2016.