Cape Town Art Fair’s back for some interaction
THE FIFTH edition of the Cape Town Art Fair (CTAF) will offer a diverse display of contemporary art from leading local and international galleries.
More than 75 exhibitors from established and emerging art centres such as London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Lagos, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Harare, Nairobi, Accra and Dubai are taking part in the fair at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from February 17 to 19.
A variety of sections will be dedicated to large-scale installations, emerging artists and online art platforms alongside talks, guided walkabouts, a digital media platform and outdoor activations that promises to ignite the nearby V&A Waterfront precinct.
Among the list of exhibitors are galleries that represent the quality and multiplicity of the thriving contemporary African art scene such as: Stevenson (Cape Town, Johannesburg), Goodman Gallery (Cape Town, Johannesburg), Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Ivory Coast), Blank Projects (Cape Town), Smac Gallery (Cape Town, Johannesburg), Gallery 1957 (Accra, Ghana), Addis Fine Art (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Bloom Art Lagos (Nigeria) and Everard Read (Cape Town, Johannesburg).
CTAF 2017 has attracted the highest number of applications from galleries in its history.
More than 20 international galleries are part of the selection, among them Galleria Massimo Minini (Brescia), Primo Marella Gallery (Milan) and Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins and Habana) from Italy and British galleries Tiwani Contemporary, October Gallery, Tafeta and Art First (all from London).
Unframed Increasing in size and scope, CTAF 2017 will include a new section – Unframed – dedicated to ambitious, large-scale works created by Mary Sibande, Liza Grobler and Katharien de Villiers and Michael Linders. The works will be interactive, encouraging fairgoers to enter into a more stimulating dialogue with contemporary art.
Tomorrows/Today Returning to CTAF is the Tomorrows/Today section, a curated cross-section of the most exciting emerging artists from Africa. Made up of solo presentations by among others, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Helen Teede, Jackie Karuti, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Onyis Martin and Sandile Zulu. Tomorrows/ Today is a bold prediction of the future of African artistic talent.
Digital | Magazines and Publications
Digital Platforms is a new addition to the fair’s Magazine and Publications section, intended to bring together the world’s most relevant voices in art journalism.
Using a digital interface, fairgoers will be able to engage and interact with online art platforms including: Artnet and Contemporary And (C&) from Berlin; Africa is a Country and True Africa from New York; Mousse Magazine from Milan; and Between 10 and 5 from Cape Town. Also at CTAF, in a physical booth as part of Magazines & Publications, will be newcomers Chimurenga magazine and the recently founded Adjective magazine. Returning to CTAF are Art Times and Art Africa, which will once again have a booth in Magazines & Publications, as well as Artthrob, which will be in the Editions section with prints by well-known South African artists, including Zanele Muholi, Candice Breitz and David Goldblatt.
Past/Modern CTAF 2017 will include a section titled Past/Modern, displaying modern Southern African artists such as Robert Hodgins in Goodman Gallery’s booth, Alexis Preller and John Mohl presented by Stevenson, Kevin Atkinson and Erik Laubscher by Smac Gallery, and Cecil Skotnes and Edoardo Villa by Wall Gallery.
Cultural Platforms In the Cultural Platform section of the fair, non-profit art institutions and initiatives will display their art collections. The non-commercial area will provide organisations such as the Ava Gallery (Cape Town), Bag Factory (Johannesburg), and international exhibitors Espace Luande Arte (Luanda) and Village Unhu (Harare), with a showcase opportunity that promises to pique the interest of fairgoers, collectors and curators.
Lalela, an organisation offering art education to at-risk youth, will be included in the section, as well as at a satellite venue in the V&A Waterfront where they will further engage with the public. – Staff writer
Tickets are available from Computicket. For more information, visit capetownartfair.co.za <http://www. capetownartfair.co.za.
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