Q Malewezi unveils Poet’s Ink wine

For a long time, local creatives have often been faulted for not doing enough to monetise their brands to earn extra revenue away from their artistic domain. This has inspired poet Qabaniso Malewezi to introduce on the market a wine brand called Poet’s Ink.

The Poet’s Ink wine brand is set for official unveiling on Friday at Latitude 13 in Lilongwe, according to Malewezi.

The artist said the wine is being manufactured in Stellenbosch, South Africa by a number of wineries he is working with.

In an interview, the poet said the name of the wine brand was key in making his entrepreneurial side and artistic face relevant to each other.

“Poetry and wine have always gone together and as a poet and a creative entrepreneur, bringing these two together has been very exciting,” he said.

The People creator noted that there is unfair pressure for artists to complete the value chain in their quest to create solid financial bases away from their art. He said given the responsibility placed on creatives, the best they can do is to enter into partnerships.

He said: “The ideal situation is to partner with other people who can be responsible for that. In other businesses, there are people who design a product, create the product and eventually people who market and sell it. But artists are expected to do all this by themselves.”

Malewezi said for now people will access the Poet’s Ink in restaurants, cafés and selected liquor shops in Lilongwe as they continue to work on bigger outlets across the country. He said at the moment, the price is yet to be worked out.

Arts commentator Wonderful Mkhutche said mostly what holds artists is the limited view in marketing their art. He said elsewhere artists are used to making fortunes from their brands.

He said: “If people can associate you with your art, they can also do the same with commercial products.

“Looking at the potential that is there, by not pursuing such initiatives as poet Q has done, is a big loss. Because at the end art is simply reduced to entertainment and nothing more.”