PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Serisha Letchmiah | WORDS: Remy Raitt
For the fourth year running, the Infecting the City Public Arts Festival took to the streets, town plazas and squares of Cape Town last week.
Curated by Brett Bailey, this is the only public arts festival in Africa that’s made freely available to everyone.
Artistic “outbreaks”, various tours around the city, performances on rubbish trucks and insightful art pieces brought Cape Tonians and tourists together from 21 to 26 February, as people from all walks of life were confronted by the various performances and exhibitions.
The theme of this year’s festival was “Treasure”, and artists were encouraged to conceptualise and materialise artworks to which every South African could relate. The various artists’ deliveries investigated a range of topics, from the value of our natural resources and the waste we produce, to the significance of our communal spaces and public monuments.
The five-day “infection” was a contagious one, which saw the Cape Town Station Forecourt (the Festival Hub) filling up as the days progressed. School children, commuters and art fundis alike were presented with artworks that begged them to take note of the South African treasures that fill our lives every day, but which are often taken for granted.
More information: www.infectingthecity.com/2011/
