All eyes are on Africa’s arts industry this month, with a pair of world-class events setting the Mother City on fire with homegrown artistic flair.
And while the Investec Cape Town Art Fair will see dozens of galleries display hundreds of works in the International Convention Centre, the International Public Arts Festival (IPAF) is taking art to the streets from February 14-18 with a series of installations, tours and activations.
This is the 8th edition of the IPAF in Cape Town, a festival put together by the non-profit arts organisation Baz-Art with a view to using art as a tool of social transformation.
‘Art is not just a mirror held up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it,’ says Melissa Cucci, co-founder and Creative Director at Baz-Art, and co-founder of IPAF. ‘At Baz-Art, we harness this transformative power of art to redefine spaces, to give voice to stories untold, and to foster a sense of community. Our mission is to turn every wall, every street, every corner into a conversation, into an opportunity for change. Here in Cape Town, we're not just creating art, we're crafting the future, one brushstroke at a time.’
A highlight of the annual festival is a series of ‘Placemaking’ events where new public art projects are created across the city to both beautify public space and stimulate social interaction within the city. This year the roster of artists involved includes
- Roa (Belgium), who works in monochromatic fauna murals
- Ellena (South Africa) whose work delves into the vivid dreamscape of local lore
- CRBZ (Switzerland), who is renowned for geometric abstractions that challenge perception
- Mars (South Africa), who captures the pulsating energy of the city
- Lelo (South Africa), whose art is a dialogue on identity and transformation
- Yolo (South Africa), who brings to life the colours of the nation’s soul
In tandem with the new artistic works, a series of tours are held daily (9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm) alongside art workshops for all ages. The hub of the IPAF is the Company's Garden, where you’ll find collaborative installations, chill zones, food trucks and workshops. Guided and self-guided street art tours begin from here too.
For more information, visit IPAF. Tickets for tours and events are available via Quicket.
Love art? Don't miss the Esther Mahlangu retrospective.