Collector and founder of Forever Young Capital, Johannesburg
In 2015 Jonti Brozin – a qualified actuary and son of Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin – founded Forever Young Capital, a purpose-driven investment company focused on investing in businesses that have a positive impact on society. He had soon set his sights on a cluster of derelict buildings in a neglected area on the eastern outskirts of the Johannesburg CBD, now home to the 30,000-square-metre complex known as Victoria Yards. Since opening in 2018, Victoria Yards – co-founded by Brozin through Forever Young – has become a creative hub, home to artists, designers and artisans, galleries and boutiques, and even an urban agriculture project; among those with studios at Victoria Yards are Blessing Ngobeni, whose polemical abstract collages have been exhibited internationally, and the prominent Cape Town-based art consultancy Spier Arts Trust.
Brozin is also a dedicated collector and patron of contemporary art. His acquisitions are focused on work by young South African artists, particularly those who engage with social issues. He was a key supporter of the UNDERLINE show, an innovative exhibition-cum-art fair that took place in Johannesburg in September 2019, and served as a platform for the work of independent curators from across Africa.