IPAF to take art to the streets of Cape Town’s CBD

Cape Town - The International Public Art Festival 2022 (IPAF) will be taking to the streets of Cape Town's CBD from February 23 to 27.

Hosted by Baz-Art, the event is said to be Africa's largest public art festival.

This free-to-the-public festival will see massive murals being created live, with opportunities for the public to interact with street artists from around the world.

According to Baz-Art communications manager Dennis Molewa, street art tours will be available to give insider knowledge to the extraordinary stories behind the artwork, and an evening programme will titillate the senses through explorations of the creative nightlife of Cape Town.

IPAF 2022 serves as a showcase of the very best talent within the street art scene, both locally and internationally – the epitome of creative expression for all Capetonians and visitors to enjoy.

“We are partnering with surrounding social, tourist and hospitality businesses and cultural institutions in the area, to focus on creating bridges and connections to celebrate community and art. In addition, once again, all participating artists will be briefed on the socio-economic, cultural and historical context of the environment where they will be creating artworks as we pay tribute to the potent cultural and historical context of central Cape Town within the artworks," he said.

This year’s theme for IPAF is Humanity, which was chosen to encourage connection and positive debate while promoting the arts and our future talent.

Tariq Munashe, a 33-year-old who runs an outdoor clothing outlet at Grand Parade, said he was positive about the event as it would bring more people closer to their stalls.

‘‘I am mostly positive about events exposing us to the people as this has the potential to boost our sales traffic. It is always a good thing to see small businesses grow, especially now that we were affected by Covid-19. And also something I am hoping for is to see a civilised society where people don‘t identify each other by race and tribes, because it becomes more difficult for us foreign nationals to run businesses where we feel vulnerable at times,‘‘ he said.

Co-founder and owner of Baz-Art, Alexandre Tilmans, said this will see large public-friendly murals across the Cape Town CBD. It is through the big and small compassionate actions that are seen every day that the festival acknowledges and is inspired by shared humanity.

“With the support of the city, province and national government, we are excited to see events such as IPAF position Cape Town as a global street art hub in Africa while showcasing local talent and culture on an international platform. IPAF 2022 will be a testament to how public art can create connection and cohesion within our communities, by reminding us about our shared humanity, which is now more important than ever,‘‘ he said.

This year, IPAF will explore new locations. The festival‘s murals will be larger than ever before, adding massive multi-storey public artworks to the skyline of the Cape Town CBD. The main activities of the festival will take place in the bustling vicinity of Harrington Street.

‘‘The public artworks created during the festival will reflect community values and creatively express what it means to be human at a particular moment in time, questioning and invoking new ways of thinking, of being, and creating a space to share voices of all involved,‘‘ Tilmans said.

Weekend Argus