The sixth edition of the International Public Art Festival (Ipaf) will for the first time be held in the Cape Town City Bowl later this month.
The event, hosted by Baz-Art – an organisation that facilitates street art – is Africa’s largest public art festival. Ipaf 2022 serves as a showcase of the best talent within the street art sector, both locally and internationally.
Organisers says the festival’s murals will be larger than ever before, adding multi-story massive public artworks to the skyline of the Cape Town CBD. The main activities will take place in the bustling vicinity of Harrington Street from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 February.
Alexander Tilmans, co-founder and owner of Baz-Art, says the free-of-charge festival will see massive sized murals being created live. He says festival goers will have the opportunity to interact with street artists from around the world.
Tilmans explains that the murals will draw inspiration from the theme “humanity” to educate and encourage debate while promoting the arts and future talent.
“It is through the big and small actions of compassion that are seen every day that the festival acknowledges and is inspired by shared humanity. This festival serves to reflect that despite all the hard challenges that each person faces, we are all connected and together we rebuild, reconnect, create, and remember our humanity,” explains Tilmans.
Dennis Molewa, Baz-Art Marketing and Communications Manager, says they 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 explains that festival goers can look forward to street art tours that will provide knowledge to the extraordinary stories behind the artwork, and an evening programme will thrill the senses through its exploration of the creative nightlife of Cape Town.
Isaac Zavale, an artist from Johannesburg, says he is excited to take part in the international festival for the first time. He says his art piece pays homage to women.
“The artwork that I will be creating is a figure of a woman with a table on top to its dedicated to women because the city is called the Mother City, so for me it made sense to do a woman figure and raising awareness about the value of women.”
Shaun Sebastian, founder of Ilukuluk Ilukuluku Collective X Morag Myerscough (UK), says: “We are creating something curious this year. And for the first time working in the LGBTQI+ space. We want to have a voice in that community when it comes to street art. Normally street art will comment on politics, race or religion but we don’t comment on those sort of things as an art collective. We decide to dedicate this year’s theme being based on humanity in the LGBTQI+ space.”
Tilmans says: “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 continues: “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. Everyone is invited to create, play and reflect together.”
- For more information visit https://ipafest.co.za
