The Investec Cape Town Art Fair returns for its 12th edition from 21–23 February at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, bringing together a diverse mix of contemporary artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts from around the world
This year’s theme, PLAY, invites artists to explore creativity, experimentation, and the deeper meaning of play in art and society.
We caught up with six featured artists to hear how they’ve interpreted this theme and what audiences can expect from their work.
1. Georgina Maxim
Through her series, titled Winter Wonders, the artist hopes to evoke an appreciation of the fleeting beauty of winter’s colors and the soft, nostalgic memories they bring.
2.Agnes Essonti Luque
Agnes Essonti Luque (Barcelona, 1996) and The Over present Mother Tongue, a multidisciplinary installation that explores the intersections of food, memory, and identity as transformative acts of connection. This project celebrates the kitchen as a dynamic space for experimentation, exchange, and storytelling—an intimate site where identities and stories are created, shaped, and continuously redefined.
A space where the tangible and intangible meet, where cooking is understood as a meditative act, a journey through time and space that embodies presence and care. The installation invites visitors to immerse themselves in its layered composition of photographs, objects, ingredients, and texts. It encourages a reflective exploration of personal connections to home, nourishment, and resilience—linking past, present, and future through ancestral wisdom.
3.Mareli Lal
South African photographer Mareli Lal’s photographic practice delves into the rich narrative potential inherent in the interplay of form, colour, and texture. Lal invites viewers to navigate the space between the mundane and the extraordinary. Thus, her compositions serve as poignant reflections on the intricate play of form and function within the tapestry of everyday life.
4.Joy Adeboye
My approach involved the peeling off of several layers of social conditioning and then trying very hard to connect back to my sacral energy through music,movement and meditation in a way that felt most authentic to me.
5.Anthony Ngoya
The exhibition’s installation and paintings create an immersive environment where viewers can contemplate the fragility of memories and the resilience required to preserve them. I bridge the micro-intimate family moments and the macro-shared experiences of displacement and migration.
Ultimately, my constellation of images, textures, and motifs reflects more than my own history. It becomes a universal representation on how we carry our pasts and how our stories are reimagined across generations.
6.Thando Phenyane
My solo presentation , “Part Black, Part Anomaly,” offers a playful yet deeply reflective exploration of themes like identity, redefining space, and rethinking belief systems. It delves into the intricate and sometimes abstract experience of being Black while navigating the world with authenticity.
