Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025, the biggest contemporary art fair in Africa, now in its twelfth edition, the fair’s female team have really worked incredibly hard to achieve the high regard and status of this annual international event in Cape Town.
This year is no different with the theme of PLAY alluding to many things. For the first time this year Kuwait and Japan are featuring artist/s.
A word on the theme: PLAY
As the underlying influence for the curated sections, PLAY will be explored in distinct yet interconnected ways:
- Play as an action, filled with spontaneity and delight,
- Play as a game, offering an open-ended journey of exploration, and
- Play your role, using art as an active tool in new and unexpected ways to shape culture and values and to foster dialogue.
This concept invites artists, curators, and guests of the fair to embrace experimentation and the joy of discovery — as well as art’s potential to surprise, challenge and engage.
Artists
With over 400 artists exhibiting, the stats speak for themselves how the fair supports contemporary art and artists in Africa.
Over seventy percent of the artists represent Africa from twenty six different countries as per the nationalities listed below. This is from both East, West, North and South Africa.
Angolan, Basotho, Batswana, Beninese, Cameroonian, Congolese, DRC Congolese, Egyptian, Ghanaian, Ivorian, Kenyan, Madagascan, Malian, Mauritian, Moroccan, Mozambican, Namibian, Nigerian, Rwandan, Senegalese, South African, Sudanese, Togolese, Ugandan, Zambian and Zimbabwean.
Fashion, Fabric and Textile in Art
Discover exhibiting artists who utilize fabric, fashion and textile in their work. This evokes another interesting angle to consider – art and fashion are deeply interconnected, each enriching the other. Art is essential to fashion, driving its evolution and narrative. This relationship highlights contemporary life and identity, emphasizing their cultural significance.
Cabinet/Trophy
There is also a lovely story around Special Projects Announcement | Cabinet/Trophy: Playing the Field curated by Exhibition Match. This section of the fair invites 10 galleries from across the world to furnish a (Trophy) Cabinet with works that capture the broad essence of ‘Play’. Curated by Alexander Richards and Dr Phokeng Setai.
Play has the power to transform audiences from passive onlookers into active participants, reconfiguring how space is experienced. Our curatorial approach in the (Trophy) Cabinet offers an open-ended, dynamic interaction between artworks and viewers. When entering an art fair – a visitor is immediately greeted by an energetic buzz, voluminous spaces and bright lights, mimicking the experience at a sporting event. Both are spaces where creativity, contest and commerce converge. In South Africa, the arts and sports share a ministry, highlighting their roles as cultural exports and nation-builders. Yet, these fields also reflect societal complexities around identity, gender, and sexuality.
- LOTS to tell you about in the weeks leading up to the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025. So watch this space. And be sure to have a copy of the 2025 Art Craft + Museums Map to help you find your way to the art scene in the Mother City and surrounds.
WHAT: Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025
WHERE: Cape Town Convention Centre, Convention Square, 1 Lower Long Street, Cape Town, 8001
WHEN: 21 – 23 February 2025
INFO: Visit
The WHAT, WHY & WHERE of the
arts scene in around Cape Town
see the 2023 art craft + museums map
and listen in to the
Arts Round Up Fridays @17:30
on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm
The FMR App makes it even easier to tune into the Arts Round Up on Fridays! i-Phone HERE | Android HERE
Another reason Cape Town is placed 3rd in Time Out’s World’s Best Cities for Culture!