ANTO NEOSOUL’S CREATIVE EVOLUTION FROM SELLING SECOND HAND CLOTHES TO CAPTIVATING ART INSTALLATIONS

In a bright space at the Hazina Trade Centre, musician and artist Anto Neosoul moves around an unusual scene. It is not a recording studio, but a detailed art display. One part shows a vibrant pink hair salon, another features a loaded wheelbarrow, and a third depicts a struggling artist’s room. For Anto, this is his new language.

“I am an artist,” he says, explaining his recent move into installation art. “Over the last two years, I’ve ventured into this because I started partnering with Rita. For me, installation art is really poetry. It’s using objects to bring out poetry. So it’s object poetry.”

Known to many as Anto, the singer and actor is stepping out of his comfort zone. His third album is mixed and ready, but he felt a need to grow. “I always tell people, I don’t want to be known for just being a singer. I want to be known that I did more than just standing on stage,” he shares. “This is a challenge for me. This is getting out of my cocoon.”

His current project, part of the “Generations and Memories exhibition, focuses on “wanderers.” He explains this as people who move, both physically and in their minds. The installation tells the stories of three such characters. There is Bella, a hairdresser discovering her family’s history as herbalists and trying to use natural products. “She represents so many people,” Anto says, his eyes lighting up. “We all know a Bella.”

Then there is Rico, a hustler who does any job he can find to pay his daughter’s school fees. “We all know that person who hustles, struggles to just put food on the table,” Anto notes. The third character is Kim, an artist whose lost music project leads him to secret work. “In the exterior, they’re doing really well… but the things they have to do to push on, I don’t think you’d want to hang out with them,” he reflects. “They represent me and you.”

Connecting this visual work to his music comes naturally. He links Rico to his song “Pay My Dues,” born from his own experience selling second hand children’s clothes in Kawangware early in his career. For Kim, the song “Slow Down” fits, a warning about chasing success too fast. For Bella, he thinks of a song like “Addicted” or “Mwisho,” symbolising it not the end but a new beginning.

This new path has been a lesson in collaboration and letting go. Working with visual artists like Magina and Ted has shifted his thinking. “It’s challenging,” he admits. “I don’t see art in terms of colour… You tell Magina an idea, and by the time you leave his studio, he has a painting. I’m thinking we need to write a proposal and all that.” He has also learned the value of workshopping an idea for months, a long process compared to music. “We argue, we fight, until you get to a place where you understand what you’re working on,” he says. “The sweetness comes when you see what you’ve been working on being actualised.”

For Anto, the most important part of creating public art is making it something people can see themselves in. “The biggest responsibility is relatability,” he states. “You must have other people’s voices included… Be relatable and have people own the process with you.”

As a creative director, he sees his role as that of a storyteller and curator, drawing from his background in advertising to shape relatable and impactful narratives across all his projects. He approaches everything from staging a musical performance to designing an art installation with the same key question: “How can we tell stories differently?” For him, this means meticulously crafting the entire experience infusing local slang into his lyrics, making bold fashion choices like a zebra-print outfit on stage, and ensuring that every visual element resonates with a sense of cultural identity. 

When asked what he wants people to feel from his work, his answer is simple: Joy. “I would love them to extract joy from my work… We can deliberately extract joy from everyday living.” His final advice is a personal motto. “Live beyond your fear,” he says. “Once you realise that nobody’s thinking about you… you’ll live a very happy life. Do it. I promise you, they’ve got so much going on in their own world.”