Biggest art fair on the continent attracts thousands

Art buyers and investors who visited the Cape art fair paid firm prices for select works.

- Johan Myburg

The fact that the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) is the biggest art market on the African continent, larger than those in Johannesburg, Lagos and Marrakesh, contributed considerably to the recent conclusion reached by a Cape Town art consultant: Cape Town is Africa’s art capital.

It’s not only the Cape beaches, scenic beauty and wines that attract tourists, but also art. “It’s something that the ICTAF team does across the world,” says Laura Vincenti, director of the Cape art fair. “We act as unofficial ambassadors for the city.”

This year the ICTAF attracted an astonishing 22 000 visitors – many of them from foreign shores – to the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where this art fair was held for the 18th time from 13 to 16 February.

This international interest was echoed by the large number of overseas galleries that took part in the ICTAF this year. With 93 galleries that represented some 400 artists from Africa, the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the US, the ICTAF retained its status as the sub-Saharan art fair that attracts the biggest number of international galleries.