Cape Town shines as art capital of Africa
As a tourist magnet Mother City has edge
CAPE Town has been named Africa’s leading art capital, beating Joburg, Lagos and Marrakesh, according to a new study.
The South African Art Market: Pricing and Patterns is an 88-page report mapping patterns in South Africa’s major art capitals, produced by Corrigall & Co, a South African-based art research consultancy. The report offers an analysis of the gallery landscape and the pricing trends in the country.
The results are based on intensive data gathering and analysis of 52 commercial art galleries, 198 exhibitions and art fair price lists pertaining to 194 artists and interviews with industry leaders.
Private art museums in Cape Town – such as the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art and the Norval Foundation – were found to carry more institutional weight than those in Joburg.
More contemporary (1980 onwards) lots were offered by the major auction houses (Strauss & Co and Aspire Art Auctions) in Cape Town in 2018. This figure is set to rise this year as both of these auction houses will be offering new (Aspire & Piasa) and larger (Strauss & Co) auctions this month to exploit the attention that an art fair in this city could generate.
While Joburg may boast more art fairs, corporate art museums and galleries, there are a higher concentration of second, third and fourth-tier galleries in Cape Town than in Joburg, the study found.
Cape Town also boasts the largest art fair on the continent.
Sixty galleries will participate in the Investec Cape Town Art Fair this year, compared with 24 in Latitudes (Joburg) and 20 in Art Joburg last year.
There is also strong participation in the Cape Town art fair by galleries based in Europe (41% this year), further implying that this city is the major art hub on the continent.
“Much of the reason that the art platforms in Cape Town enjoy a higher status is that they are located in a tourist magnet. Some galleries say up to 70% of sales in this city are to foreign visitors,” said Corrigall & Co founder Mary Corrigall.
Commenting on the study, Briony Brookes of Cape Town Tourism said: “In Cape Town we are famed for our natural wonders; our beaches, winelands, and mountains. So when you consider what our art community is competing with, it’s something visitors can perhaps be forgiven in overlooking. But while forgiveness is granted, excuses will not be accepted. That’s because the art scene in Cape Town can and should no longer be ignored.
“Art in Cape Town is alive, exciting and definitely on par with what’s on offer in major international cities around the world.
“The Mother City offers a collaborative, nurturing environment for artists working across mediums and engaging around a vast variety of topics, themes and issues.”
An estimated 50 art platforms – from galleries, fairs, events – have been established in South Africa since 2007.