Even for those already initiated into the frenzy that is Cape Town’s ‘art week’ — brought on by the annual Investec Cape Town Art Fair – it can be difficult to navigate where to put your time and energy. The entire city has cottonned on and taken advantage (rightly so) of the flux of interest in the arts, from a market, cultural resource, entertainment and educational perspective. In an attempt to illuminate some of the satellite events adjacent to and independent of ICTAF, we’ve curated a round up of events which might make the decisions to leave your house less daunting. Here we go!
Investec Cape Town Art Fair
Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) is Africa’s largest art fair – enough said. They host over 120 exhibitors, 30 000 visitors, and 10 000 VIPs. It offers a platform for galleries, collectors, curators and artists from around the globe to create connections at the forefront of contemporary art. With an intimate experience of one of the world’s most unique art capitals, ICTAF has proven to be the place where the African art market and the international art world meet. They are hosting their 12th edition from 21-23 February 2025.
In addition to hosting galleries from SA, Africa and abroad, ICTAF is also hosting guided walkabouts and facilitated talks with moderators in conversation with artists, which also reflect this year’s theme ‘Play’. Gain insight and get inspired by these world-class panellists discussing everything from digital media to environmental responsibility and the impact of global collaboration.
Here are some of the topics which will be explored on Saturday 22 February:
Talk 1: The Role of Digital Media and Film in Contemporary Art
Talk 2: The Power of Art in Global Brand Collaborations
Talk 3: Imagining A Brighter Future Through Environmental And Social Responsibility
Talk 4: The Impact of Contemporary Art from Africa on Global Narratives
Talk 5: Bringing the Studio to the Fair: Creative Conversations with the Artists
Notable talks taking place on Sunday 23 February:
Art Walk with Sean O’Toole: Reimagining Craft through Global Makers and Materials
For more information about the available satellite events taking place at ICTAF, click here.
Book tickets for Investec Cape Town Art Fair here
Imagery courtesy of ICTAF
Bree Castle House Open Studios
On Wednesday 19 February 2025, Bree Castle House will once again present an Open Studios event. Hosted by RESERVOIR, an art gallery on the 7th floor of the building, Bree Castle Open Studios forms part of the official VIP programme for the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025.
Further to this, Design Week South Africa (which had its inaugural launch in October 2024) is popping up at Bree Castle House Open Studios on the first floor with an installation, entitled ‘Progression ll – The Prelude’, by Onesimo Bam. Onesimo will also be extending this installation to form a fashion show, taking place on Sunday 23 February during Open Bree, on Bree Street. Open Bree is an initiative encouraging pedestrianism and community in the city, which continues to run year-round.
Open Studios will showcase 20 artists’ spaces across 9 floors to reveal process and unseen works. To name one, designer Koos Groenewald will be revealing a limited edition (set of 10) shirts designed in collaboration with National Arts Council and Art Club and Friends.
Open from 18:00 – 20:00 at Bree Castle House, Cape Town.
RSVP for Bree Castle House Open Studios here
NURU Showroom
In a recent interview with conceptual fashion designer Lezanne Viviers, she mentioned how 2025 would be the year for community establishment with like-minded creatives. With fellow founders, Nubia Moussa, Kerstin Engler and Didi Mogashoa, they have created NURU African Collective Showroom, taking place from 18 to 23 February.
NURU promises to make waves at the Cape Town Art Fair, shining a spotlight on African art and design that encourage collectors and clients to ‘Play’ – following suit from this year’s ICTAF theme.
In the spirit of play, they are inviting viewers to an exclusive visit to the historic Art Deco penthouse of Lezanne’s at Mutual Heights. The showroom fosters collaboration, shared resources, and a sense of camaraderie, showcasing ethical, authentic and artful design that reflect the spirit and culture of the African continent through conversations with art and fashion, together shaping a new paradigm.
The showroom will feature artists and designers such as Frances VH Mohair, Water Dixon, Boemo Diale, Yolanda Mazwana, Crystal Birch, House of Gozdawa, Daisie Jo, Viviers, In Company, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Driaan Claasen, Gabrielle Kruger to name a few.
SHOWROOM: 18–23 February 2025 (Apartment 1101, Mutual Heights)
ART FAIR BOOTH: 21–23 February 2025 (Investec Cape Town Art
NURU Showroom is available for viewing by appointment only. Book appointment here
Imagery courtesy of RESERVOIR
Imagery courtesy of NURU
Lemkus Gallery celebrates the opening of ‘GIRLS TOO: TOO MUCH, NEVER ENOUGH’, a group exhibition curated by Keely Shinners and assisted by Mihlali Jiya, taking place from Thursday 13 February.
Following from ‘GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS’, an exhibition curated by Keely Shinners and Dominique Cheminais that was organised loosely around femininity and its discontents, GIRLS TOO goes deeper into the question: what is it that makes us girls? Who’s us? What’s girls?
Keely shares, “Anatomy is a sham, so let’s bin all talk of biology. Identity and its tentacular associations – gender, sexuality – are too unstable, too in flux, so let’s eschew that game of category too. The way we see it, GIRLS is a mystery. An enigma. A vanishing point. A sense. A sense of bloat and a sense of depletion. A sense, simultaneously, of excess and lack. A sense of being too much – too much and yet never enough. The artists gathered for the show approach their work from different vantage points, but each shares – in some way, shape, or form – an affinity with this paradox: TOO MUCH, NEVER ENOUGH.”
Featuring work by: Alka Dass, Cara Biederman, Charity Vilakazi, Dominique Cheminais, Gabriele Jacobs, Jet Snaith, Kerry Lee Chambers, Leah Mascher, Lebogang Mabusela, Miró van der Vloed, Nabeeha Mohamed, Nano Le Face, Neha Misra, Queezy Babaz, Sara Matthews, Sichumile Adam, Tyra Naidoo and Yolanda Mazwana.
Poster image: Sichumile Adam, Red, 2023
Visit LEMKUS Gallery to view the exhibition until 20 March 2025
What has now become an institution celebrating self-expression and community – Death of Glitter (D.O.G) is hosting a ‘queer utopia’ party on 28 February at Alley Cape Town in Paarden Eiland (between 20:00 – 04:00). Since relaunching in May last year, The D.O.G has grown, solidifying its place as one of Cape Town’s most revered LGBQTIA+ nightlife events.
“Our community needs spaces of frivolity, now more than ever,” says D.O.G founder and Creative Director Tazmé Pillay. “We are entering into a moment of chaos. Locating the dance floor as a place of respite and playfulness is what we need to prepare ourselves for the reality of that moment. We need these utopias to not just survive – but thrive.”
The intimate and accessible warehouse space in Paarden Island will be transformed by D.O.G’s creative team, including renowned lighting designer Kieran McGregor and digital artist Scumboy, under the creative direction of Tazmé Pillay. South African pop star and ‘ghetto rave’ pioneer Moonchild Sanelly will be making a special stop at D.O.G, giving us a taste of what to expect from her upcoming European tour. Moonchild will be supported by Kat Davids, Tipp.Exe, Soulchoke, Elle, Tactix, Phijos, DRAGMOTHER.
Book tickets for D.O.G here
Imagery courtesy of GIRLS TOO
Imagery courtesy of D.O.G
For more nightlife events, the Investec Cape Town Art Fair afterparty will be hosted by Ses’fikile at Botanik Social Club on 22 February from 9pm-4am. Sindiswe Zungu is the headline act for their 2nd birthday celebration which coincides with the Art Fair. It’s the opportunity to dance among the creatives, rub shoulders with the artists and explore the darker side of the ‘white cube’.
Book tickets for Ses’Fikile Afterparty here
Afterimage film screenings
Launched in January 2025, Afterimage is a film screening programme, funded by the National Arts Council and run by Mitchell Gilbert Messina and Ben Albertyn. Each screening has an artist share a work of theirs alongside some of the short films and reference material that informed it. The aim is to show video art outside the gallery or the password protected link, and to have artists frame their work within a lineage, highlighting the traits shared with works that came before it.
Artists’ films have a tendency to feel fully formed, when they’re more often a collection of decisions held together by internal logic, homages and making-do with the footage available.
Afterimage is hosting screenings twice a month at The Labia. The latest screening features work by Dale Lawrence on 19 February, which is free and open to the public, though capacity is limited to 48 people.
Book free tickets for Afterimage here
Imagery courtesy of Afterimage
Imagery courtesy of Ses’fikile
Norval x Mount Nelson x RESERVOIR
In collaboration with the Norval Foundation, RESERVOIR presents Disrupting the Dream: Surreal Narratives from the Norval Foundation Collection, an exhibition exploring contemporary African and diasporic perspectives on Surrealism. Opening on 22 February 2025, this year-long exhibition will be installed in the public spaces of the historic Mount Nelson – A Belmond Hotel, offering guests and visitors an immersive engagement with groundbreaking works from the Norval Foundation Collection.
Cape Town Furniture Week
Last, but certainly not least, another exciting festival of design is taking place around Cape Town from 19 to 22 February. Cape Town Furniture Week (CTFW) is a 4-day festival for contemporary furniture, lighting and homeware. The third annual edition features open showrooms, exhibitions, talks and factory tours. The aim is to invite designers and the general public to discover new products and ideas by exhibitors and brands, to connect with peers in the industry, and to engage in conversations around design, craftsmanship, innovation and sustainability. Exhibitors and talks include local designers Weylandts x Thebe Magugu and Piers Mansfield x Sindiso Khumalo among many more.
Learn more about CTFW and RSVP to events here
There is truly so much to be inspired by and engage with in Cape Town over the next few weeks – this list is far from exhausted, in fact, visit Leo’s Wine Bar for a colourful popup with Lea Colombo; ‘That Art Fair Feeling’ party at Gorgeous George featuring M. Field (Friday 21 February) and pop in to see the ICTAF installation at AKJP Studio. We hope this aids in navigating the city with more direction, in the pursuit of supporting culture and those responsible for the organisation and expression behind it.
Imagery courtesy of Cape Town Furniture Week
For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za
