Cape Town Art Fair 2017: What To Expect

WORDS Cheri Morris


The fifth annual Cape Town Art Fair will be taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre between 17 and 19 February 2017.

Cape Town Art Fair 2017
Eleanor Turvey – Yinka Shonibare MBE “…A Poetic Exploration of Ideas.” Five panel mixed-media collage on plywood, 136 x 198 cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Erdmann Contemporary.

The leading fair will be returning to the vibrant city of Cape Town under the curatorship of newly appointed fair curator Tumelo Mosaka. Tumelo is South African born and has spent the last two decades working in the United States as a curator for exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and many more.

The CTICC will once more be transformed into an international destination for contemporary art and include varied collections from the foremost galleries from South Africa, the African continent and abroad. There will be over 75 exhibitors from around the world, including Paris, Milan, Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Dubai.

The fair will be offering a Talks Programme that covers an insightful range of topics surrounding contemporary art and furthermore be divided up into the following sections showcasing various displays:

Main section: a diverse display of contemporary art from leading international galleries.
Tomorrows/Today section: a curated cross-section of the most exciting emerging artists from Africa.
Past/Modern section: a section dedicated to displaying modern Southern African artists.
Unframed: a new section dedicated to ambitious large-scale works. The works are strongly interactive; encouraging fairgoers to enter into a more stimulating dialogue with contemporary art. Artists featured include Mary Sibande (GalleryMOMO), Liza Grobler (Everard Read) and Katharien de Villiers and Michael Linders (SMITH).
Editions: a section of the fair that highlights prints and multiples.
Cultural Platforms: non-profit art institutions and initiatives display their collections. The non-commercial area provides organisations with a showcase opportunity to pique the interest of fairgoers, collectors and curators.
Magazines & Bookstores: leading South African publishers and booksellers with an interest in art.
Digital Platforms: a digital reading lounge highlighting arts reporting from around the world.

There will be a a full bar, a variety of food and beverages available and free parking. Tickets, which cost R126 for adults until 13 February 2017 (R140 thereafter), are available through Computicket. Visit capetownartfair.co.za for more information.

Looking for more on local art? Here’s what happened at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in 2016.