Africa’s Largest Contemporary Art Fair Turns 10

By Michael Irwin
Cape Town
16 February 2023

Director Laura Vincenti said the Investec Cape Town Art Fair's strength has been engaging in a global conversation 'through a non-geographical lens'.

Talia Ramkilawan, What I want, wants me (2022). Wool and cloth on hessian. 89 x 61 x 4cm. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Paris Brummer.

Fittingly, the notion of time is this year's curatorial theme at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair.

The Investec Cape Town Art Fair runs from 17 February to 19 February at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Its director, Laura Vincenti, told Ocula Magazine the fair's strength has been its ability to provide South Africa with an international platform for artists from around the world to 'engage in global conversation about humanity through a non-geographical lens'.

The fair's Tomorrows/Today section takes its theme from Maya Angelou's poem 'In and Out of Time'. In it, 10 galleries will show emerging artists who have previously exhibited at the fair.

Mary Sibande, I put a spell on me (2009). Archival Digital Print. 120 x 79 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Among them, Goodman Gallery will present new figurative paintings by Mozambique artist Cassi Namoda. Made during her recent Albers Foundation Residency in West Cork, Ireland, the works meld together Irish experiences of the 19th-century potato famine with food scarcity in today's Global South.

Berlin-based Bode Projects is presenting Nigerian artist and fashion designer, Deborah Segun's colourful abstract portraiture. Currently the artist is working with non-profit The Art Of Healing (TAOH) to create murals for mental health institutions

SMAC Gallery will present shimmering new works by local artist Rosie Mudge who subverts gender assumptions around materials in her glittery canvases.

Rosie Mudge, You Can't Touch This (2022). Automotive Paint and Glitter Glue on Canvas. 162 x 172 cm. Courtesy SMAC Gallery.

Johannesburg's BKhz Gallery, joining the fair for the first time, is showing Talia Ramkilawan's 'tapestry adjacent' wall works. Made through the slow process of rug hooking, the works explore post-apartheid healing through a focus on the South African Indian experience.

Looking to the future, Art Review Power 100-lister Zanele Muholi, sculptor Nandipha Mntambo, and digital new-media artist Natalie Paneng have all incorporated 3D-Printing in their works at the fair.

Vincenti commented, 'It is interesting to observe how artists from South Africa and other parts of the world are responding to digital tools and influences in their art making' noting that this makes for 'a fair that is in tune with the times that we live in'.

The Cape Town Art Fair is organised by exhibitions giant Fiera Milano and sponsored by Anglo-South African banking group Investec. Musing on its future, Vincenti said, 'My real wish is to have a footprint throughout the year collaborating with local institutions, artists, and galleries.'

Among the 106 exhibitors at this year's fair are Christopher Moller and THK Gallery from Cape Town; Afriart from Kampala, Osart Gallery and Mimmo Scognamiglio Artecontemporanea from Milan, and Galerie EIGEN + ART from Leipzig.

A full list of participating galleries can be found on the fair's website. —[O]