Cape Town is Africa’s leading art capital, study reveals

Art collectors, museum directors, curators and gallerists from Africa and Europe will descend on Cape Town from 12 February to soak up all the art Cape Town has to offer.

This includes exhibitions, a new Triennale in Stellenbosch and two contemporary auctions all timed to coincide with Cape Town’s annual art fair.

Cape Town has become a vital art capital. In fact, it is the leading one on the African continent, beating Johannesburg, Lagos and Marrakesh, according to a new study.

This was one of the many findings in The South African Art Market: Pricing & Patterns, a report mapping patterns in South Africa’s major art capitals.

Produced by Corrigall & Co, a South African-based art research consultancy, the report offers an analysis of the gallery landscape and the pricing trends in the country.

The results are based on intensive data gathering and analysis of 52 commercial art galleries, 198 exhibitions and art fair price lists pertaining to 194 artists and interviews with industry leaders.

Cape Town. Picture: iStock

A rivalry between Cape Town and Joburg has raged for years, as more galleries, art fairs and events have been established in each city over the last decade.

An estimated 50 art platforms – galleries, fairs, events – have been established in South Africa since 2007, according to the study. Around 70% of them are commercial galleries.

This new study (temporarily) puts this battle between Cape Town and Joburg to rest. Joburg may boast more art fairs, corporate art museums and galleries, however, there are a higher concentration of second, third and fourth-tier galleries in Cape Town.

The private art museums in Cape Town – such as the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art and the Norval Foundation – were found to carry more institutional weight than those in Joburg.

Cape Town also boasts the largest art fair on the continent.

Sixty galleries will participate in the Investec Cape Town Art Fair this year, opposed to 24 at the Latitudes Art Fair 2019 in Joburg and a mere 20 in Art Joburg and Art X Lagos in 2019 and 1-54 Marrakech (taking place 22 February).

Nigerian artist Queen Nwaneri paints during the Nigeria annual Art X event in Lagos. Picture: by Emmanuel Arewa / AFP

There is also strong participation in the Cape Town Art Fair by galleries based in Europe (41% in 2020), further implying that this city is the major art hub on the continent.

“Much of the reason that the art platforms in Cape Town enjoy a higher status is that they are located in a tourist magnet. Some galleries say up to 70% of sales in this city are to foreign visitors,” said Mary Corrigall, founder of Corrigall & Co.

According to Briony Brookes, PR and Communications Manager at Cape Town Tourism, tourists often fail to notice Cape Town’s art scene because it is overshadowed by the beauty of the city itself.

“In Cape Town, we are famed for our natural wonders; our beaches, winelands, and mountains. So when you consider what our art community is competing with, it’s something visitors can perhaps be forgiven in overlooking.

“The art scene in Cape Town can and should no longer be ignored. Art in Cape Town is alive, exciting and definitely on par with what’s on offer in major international cities around the world.

“The Mother City offers a collaborative, nurturing environment for artists working across mediums and engaging around a vast variety of topics, themes and issues. Artists, and creatives in general, are drawn to Cape Town and we’re proud to offer them a home, a platform and a stage.”

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