Places in Cape Town where you can find true African art
African art is on the rise and it’s not only the traditional taste of Africa you may be expecting.
Colour, attitude, flavour, style, passion and Africa through art awaits you around the Mother City of Cape Town, South Africa.
You just need to know where to look, which publications to buy and the inside scoop on where the latest art is displayed.
And that’s exactly what you’re about to get.
Find it in our fashion
The African fashion industry is hip and happening all around the streets of Cape Town and the clothing and accessories are two of the many expressions of African art. Some of the African fashion boutiques in the city are:
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Merchants on Long: This African-inspired clothing, accessory and homeware store at 34 Long Street in the heart of Cape Town has everything you love about style and traditional African patterns. A few of the designers you’ll find here include MaXhosa by Laduma, Khokho, Cleo Droomer and Alice Heusser.
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Missibaba: South African designer Chloe Townsend is the founder of this luxury African-style leather handbag and other accessories brand. You can find them at 229 Bree Street or at The Watershed by the Waterfront – full of beautifully-designed bags with accents of contemporary African art.
Fashion design has always been a unique way of expressing a culture and African designers know how to combine the pride of their lifelong culture with the modernity of the times.
Find it in our galleries
Art, as we mostly know it, is thought to be paintings and sculptures displayed in a gallery, but it’s obviously not the only art form out there. Cape Town has a variety of galleries along its bustling streets and we even have monthly evenings dedicated to these art pieces.
First Thursday’s happens on the first Thursday of every month and is a time where all the galleries stay open until late and everyone is welcome to walk around the streets from gallery to gallery, admiring the wonder that local artists create.
Here are some of the galleries that you need to visit in order to find true pieces of African art:
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Zeitz MOCAA: This is a not-for-profit contemporary art museum with over 100 galleries, in a repurposed silo as the building. It’s also the only and largest museum of its kind in Africa. If you don’t manage to get to all the art galleries around Cape Town, make sure you stop at this one for a complete celebration and education of contemporary African art. View over 50 different contemporary artists’ work in one place at the V&A Waterfront, Silo District.
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WHATIFTHEWORLD: Now, there aren’t many galleries that can live up to the size and diversity of the Zeitz museum, but if you want to visit a gallery that is playing a part in the contemporary African art movement, then visit WHATIFTHEWORLD. This gallery can be found at 208 Albert Road in Woodstock and is home to an array of contemporary African artists’ paintings and sculptures.
A few more galleries include Luvey ‘n Rose, Blank Projects, Greatmore studios and the Stevenson Gallery.
Find it in our craft
Tourists are likely to take home a beaded figurine or tribal mask as souvenirs of being in Africa. And there may be an abundance of these traditional crafts around Cape Town, but there are also contemporary craft stores that have a unique take on these traditional art pieces.
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Monkeybiz: 61 Wale Street, Bo Kaap, is where you’ll find the world of beaded crafts and contemporary African influence in the art.
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And Banana: For the contemporary version of traditional African masks, And Banana in Hout Bay brings African art into their textile craft. They also create necklaces, bracelets, earrings and bags with the same contemporary feel.
Find it in photography
Photography is an impactful art form and a beautiful way to capture and display the joys and struggles of life. There are a few photographic publications that you can subscribe to if you want to find contemporary African art through the lens of a camera.
Art Africa and ArtThrob are two of the main publications that display different African photographers’ photographs. Art Africa also has a relatively new sub-publication, COLLECTOR, which focuses on the “business of art”.
Find it at Design Indaba
If you want to find bits and pieces of different kinds of African art, then stay updated with the online publication, Design Indaba. They are all about encouraging design and creativity in Africa and showcase it to the world.
Every year they have a Most Beautiful Object in South Africa where 10 influencers individually nominate the most beautiful object in their opinion and the 10 different items are then placed on display and put to public vote. This is only one of the ways where Design Indaba brings African creativity, design and art to the world.
Besides this and their publication, they hold a festival, conference talks, interviews and support design activism projects.