Returning for its 13th edition from 20–22 February 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) arrives under a concept that is both timely and quietly radical: “Listen”. In a world saturated with speed, visibility, and noise, the fair invites visitors to slow down, attend closely, and engage with art as active participants in a shared act of attention.
Now firmly established as the largest and most internationally connected art fair on the African continent, ICTAF occupies a distinctive position within the global art calendar. While rooted in Cape Town, it has become an essential meeting point for artists, galleries, curators, collectors, and institutions engaging with contemporary African and diasporic practices in dialogue with global artistic currents.
The 2026 edition marks a moment of growth. Alongside an expanded physical footprint, the fair introduces new curated platforms, a reimagined talks programme, and a broader performance focus — signalling an evolution not only in scale, but in ambition.
Fair Director Laura Vincenti describes the approach succinctly:
“Listen is an invitation to engage across borders, perspectives, and experiences. Our curators have built a genuinely global representation, bringing together voices from different corners of the world.”
Where Global Art Voices Converge
ICTAF 2026 brings together 126 exhibitors presenting the work of nearly 490 artists from over 40 countries, reinforcing the fair’s role as a meeting point for African, diasporic, and global artistic practices.
European galleries such as Ellen de Bruijne Projects (Amsterdam), CFHILL (Stockholm), and PSM Gallery (Berlin) showcase artists like Melanie Gilligan, Ana Teixeira Pinto, and James Webb, whose practices resonate with the conceptual frame of Listen.
Cities including Lisbon, Barcelona, Lagos, and Paris feature strongly through galleries such as This is Not a White Cube, BETA Contemporary, OOA Gallery, The 1897 Gallery, and O’DA Art, bringing artists like Adebunmi Adeola and Modupeola Fadugba whose work circulates internationally while remaining rooted in local context.
Anchoring this global scope are South African galleries whose programmes continue to define contemporary practice, positioning Cape Town as both host and active interlocutor in global art networks.
Main: The Backbone of the Fair
At the centre of ICTAF 2026 lies the Main section, anchoring the fair’s intellectual and market confidence. Here, established galleries present focused selections that balance curatorial clarity with broader conversations shaping contemporary practice.
South African galleries remain central. Stevenson and Goodman Gallery, for example, present artists such as William Kentridge, Kudzanai Chiurai, and Moshekwa Langa, whose work navigates histories of power, memory, and social justice. Southern Guild and WHATIFTHEWORLD foreground material experimentation and conceptual rigour through artists like Zizipho Poswa and Igshaan Adams.
International galleries similarly frame their presentations through dialogue rather than dominance, situating artists whose practices often work with sound, memory, and relational experience within the thematic framework of Listen.
Lookout: Attuning to Emerging Practices
The Lookout section foregrounds emerging galleries and developing artistic voices.
Galleries such as Everyday Lusaka Gallery and Loft 3 Gallery (Harare) present artists like Keyezua, Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, and Virginia Chihota, whose work explores identity, gender, and self-representation through photography, drawing, and performance. Logmo + Makon (Douala) and The Space Ethiopia showcase installation, video, and socially engaged practices rooted in local context while speaking to international audiences.
Within Listen, Lookout invites visitors to remain attentive to process, experimentation, and the still-forming gestures of artistic practice.
Curated Sections: Listening as Artistic Method
Tomorrows/Today: If You Listen Carefully, The Air Is Full of Laughter
Curated by Dr. Mariella Franzoni (Barcelona), this section highlights artists attentive to myth, ritual, and speculative futures. Practices associated with Dineo Seshee Bopape, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Tabita Rezaire exemplify listening as attunement to ancestral knowledge and alternative modes of perception.
SOLO: Echoes of Humanity
Curated by Céline Seror (Amsterdam), SOLO features single-artist exhibitions privileging intimacy and relationality. Artists such as Manyaku Mashilo, Lebohang Kganye and Otobong Nkanga explore listening as vulnerability, proximity, and sustained engagement.
Generations: Call and Response
Curated by Tandazani Dhlakama (Toronto), Generations pairs artists across generations, exploring lineage, influence, and transmission. Dialogues reminiscent of David Goldblatt and Zanele Muholi demonstrate listening as inheritance, conversation, and ethical attention.
Cabinet/Record
Curated by Beata America (Cape Town), Cabinet/Record treats photography and archival practices as sites of resonance. Artists such as Santu Mofokeng, Sammy Baloji, and Lebohang Kganye invite viewers to listen to images as histories, preserved gestures, and ethical records.
Beyond the Booth: Talks, Performance, and Participation
Across the weekend, guided art walks offer curated journeys through the fair, led by voices including Dr Mariella Franzoni, Céline Seror, Tandazani Dhlakama, Athi-Patra Ruga, Max Melvill, Beata America, and Anna Weylandt. Each walk proposes a different way of reading the fair — encouraging visitors to return and experience it anew.
A series of ticketed workshops provides rare access to artistic processes and interdisciplinary thinking. Highlights include Zanele Muholi: Self-Portraiture in collaboration with ORMS, Mary Sibande & Thebe Magugu: Colour and Materiality Across Disciplines, and Dan Corder: Contemporary Art Criticism and Practice — intimate, limited-capacity sessions designed for hands-on engagement.
The Talks Programme, curated by Art School Africa, embraces a conversational format that places audience participation at its centre, exploring themes ranging from cultural memory and activism to collecting, Pan-African institutional collaboration, and the global impact of locally rooted design practices. Prize-giving ceremonies across the fair further underscore Investec Cape Town Art Fair’s commitment to recognising both emerging and established voices.
Market Context and Recognition
The fair’s expansion mirrors broader market momentum. According to ArtTactic, auction sales of African-born artists reached $77.2 million in 2024, while Sotheby’s 2025 Modern & Contemporary African Art sale saw a 46% increase in bidder participation and record results for emerging artists.
ICTAF continues to champion artistic futures through its awards programme, including the ORMS International Photography Prize, Investec Emerging Artist Award, Tomorrows/Today Prize, and the RDC Acquisition Prize, ensuring recognition supports experimentation and dialogue.
PARTICIPATING INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITORS:
AFIKARIS (Paris, France), Afriart Gallery (Kampala, Uganda), AMG Projects (Lagos, Nigeria), BETA Contemporary (Barcelona, Spain), Bode (Berlin, Germany), Cellar Contemporary (Trento, Italy), Circle Art Agency (Nairobi, Kenya), Dep Art (Milan, Italy), Double V Gallery (Marseille and Paris, France), Doyle Wham (London, United Kingdom), Ellen de Bruijne Projects (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Everyday Lusaka Gallery (Lusaka, Zambia), First Floor Gallery Harare (Harare, Zimbabwe), Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea (Palermo, Italy), GALERÍA LUISA PITA (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), Galerie Caroline O’Breen (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Galerie EIGEN + ART (Berlin and Leipzig, Germany), Galerie Eric Dupont (Paris, France), Galleria Giovanni Bonelli (Milan, Italy), Gallery Nosco (Brussels, Belgium), GREGOR PODNAR (Vienna, Austria), kó (Lagos, Nigeria), LEESAYA (Tokyo, Japan), Livingstone Gallery (The Hague, Netherlands and Berlin, Germany), Lo Magno artecontemporanea (Modica and Scicli, Italy), Loft 3 Gallery (Harare, Zimbabwe), Logmo + Makon (Douala, Cameroon), NÉBOA (Lugo, Spain), Namuso Gallery (The Hague, Netherlands), No Man’s Art Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands), O’DA Art (Lagos, Nigeria), OH Gallery (Dakar, Senegal), OOA Gallery (Barcelona, Spain), Paulina Caspari (Munich, Germany), Perve Galeria (Lisbon, Portugal), PSM Gallery (Berlin, Germany), Reiners Contemporary Art (Málaga, Spain), Samuel Maenhoudt Gallery (Knokke, Belgium), Suburbia Contemporary (Barcelona, Spain), Taranmana Art Gallery (Andorra la Vella, Andorra), The Bridge Gallery (Paris, France), The Norm (Paris, France), The Space Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), The 1897 Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria), THIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE (Lisbon, Portugal and Luanda, Angola), Umoja Art Gallery (Kampala, Uganda), Victor Lope Arte Contemporáneo (Barcelona, Spain), Windsor Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria), Wunika Mukan Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria)
PARTICIPATING SOUTH AFRICAN EXHIBITORS:
131 A Gallery (Cape Town), 50ty/50ty Prints (Cape Town), 99 Loop (Cape Town), AFRONOVA GALLERY (Johannesburg), Art Formes (Cape Town), artHARARE (Cape Town), Artist Proof Studio (Johannesburg), Association for Visual Arts (Cape Town), Berman Contemporary (Cape Town and Johannesburg), blank projects (Cape Town), Candice Berman Gallery (Johannesburg), Christopher Moller Gallery (Cape Town), City of Cape Town (Cape Town), Clarke’s Bookshop (Cape Town), Crome Yellow M&C (Johannesburg), Dale Sargent Fine Art (Johannesburg), David Krut Arts Resource (Johannesburg), EBONY/CURATED (Cape Town and Franschhoek), Eclectica Contemporary (Cape Town), Everard Read (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Franschhoek and London), Gallery F (Cape Town), Goodman Gallery (Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and New York), Graham Contemporary (Johannesburg), Jonathan Ball Publishers (Cape Town), Iziko South African National Gallery (Cape Town), kumalo | turpin (Johannesburg), Lalela (Cape Town), Lemkus Gallery (Cape Town), locus projects (Johannesburg), Loft Editions (Cape Town), Norval Foundation (Cape Town), Occupying The Gallery (Johannesburg), Peffers Fine Art (Cape Town), RESERVOIR (Cape Town), Riaan Bolt Antiques (Johannesburg), SMAC Gallery (Cape Town and Stellenbosch), Southern Guild (Cape Town and Los Angeles), Stevenson (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Amsterdam), THK Gallery (Cape Town), Untitled (Cape Town), Vault Research (Cape Town), Vela Projects (Cape Town), WALL (Cape Town), Western Cape Art Centres (Cape Town), WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town), WORLDART (Cape Town), Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town)
Cover Image: Manyaku Mashilo, IN the Radiance of Stars