Local arts and fashion writer warns of international publishers after failed payment

News24 reports that local arts and fashion writer Malibongwe Tyilo has vented on Instagram about an international publisher that has allegedly failed to pay him for his contributions towards a book titled Africa Rising.

The German publishing house is known as Gestalten. Tyilo contributed to the book in 2016 and recently decided to revisit the failed payment. Check out the post below:

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Typically, I prefer to deal to with serious drama privately and not on social media, but hopefully this will be a cautionary tale for another writer. Over two years ago I contributed a chapter on African Fashion to this book by German publisher @gestalten, and two years later I'm still fighting to be paid as per our contract, and the book is still on sale at bookshops and online. It is ridiculous that the people behind a book that claims to celebrate African creativity refuse to pay for the very African creativity that makes the book possible. I've certainly learnt my lesson: while there's nothing wrong with collaborating globally across borders, we have every right to tell our stories and assert ourselves wherever we wish, but we must watch out for these people that come thru claiming to be about us, but actually continue the same old culture of extracting from and exploiting Africans, with no intention of fair exchange. Shame on you @gestalten

A post shared by Malibongwe Tyilo (@malibongwe) on Oct 8, 2018 at 3:03am PDT

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