Tiger Brands and world-famous artist come together for Heritage Day celebrations

Albany Bakeries and Tastic Rice will run promotions that showcase artwork created by Dr Esther Mahlangu, a world-renowned artist.

Dr Ester Mahlangu

Dr Mahlangu paints in the Ndebele tradition, each stroke accurately applied with a chicken feather, a skill she learnt at the age of 10. She has gone on to achieve global recognition.

Seven of Dr Esther Mahlangu’s designs were presented to Tiger Brands, and the respective creative teams at Albany and Tastic chose designs for the Albany bread and Tastic rice packaging.

Running alongside the limited-edition packaging is a promotional campaign.

The Albany campaign runs from 1 September to 30 September 2018. There are instant prizes and a R5,000 cash prize daily. Just purchase two Albany Superior loaves, send the unique code to the USSD number provided on pack and stand a chance to win.

This is the third year of Albany’s involvement in Heritage Day celebrations. Marketing director: Albany Bakeries Tiger Brands Mmaphuti Rankapole says, “We are delighted that bread and art can come together in this special and unique concept as two great staples of South African tradition. We recognise the importance of daily food as the life force that sustains all our people and are happy to play a role.”

Thembi Sehloho, marketing director: Rice and Pasta, Tiger Brands, says “It’s very exciting to have our brands associated with this global icon and be able to use Dr Mahlangu’s phenomenal artistic talent to enhance our packaging in a way that recognises South Africa’s heritage.”

To enter the Tastic promotion you just need to buy any Tastic 2kg parboiled rice, and enter the last four digits of the barcode into the USSD line *120*12215# for a chance to win R1,000 daily plus limited-edition Dr Esther Mahlangu-branded prizes. This campaign runs from 3 to 25 September 2018. Both campaigns will be supported by in-store and social media promotions.

As part of the Heritage promotions Albany and Tastic have arranged for Dr Mahlangu to host a masterclass for Grade 10 and Grade 11 students of the National School of the Arts (NSA) on 19 September. In addition, they have been invited to submit artworks depicting what Albany and Tastic mean to them, and these will be exhibited in the foyer of Tiger Brands Head Office in Bryanston.

This will be followed by an official Heritage Day presentation with NSA Acapella singers to entertain guests in the foyer of Tiger Brands head office on 26 September. NSA is the leading art school in South Africa and is the ideal choice to showcase talent in all its forms.

Brenda Sakellarides, acting artistic director, The National School of the Arts, marketing and development unit, says this is an opportunity to bridge generations – bringing together young and old in the tradition of storytelling, particularly as it relates to art and family. “It is a great honour to host Dr Esther Mahlangu at our school and our students will be inspired not only by her art, but her incredible spirit.”

Still painting at age 82, Dr Mahlangu adds, “Love your culture and tradition. This art of traditional paintings is part of our culture. So art can give you bread, can give you food (rice) for you to live. And there is no greater privilege than passing on my art in the Ndebele tradition that is so much a part of culture in South African society, which is why I want to build the IsiNdebele Art School.”