Expanding the public consciousness and disrupting artistic boundaries and public spaces throughout the Mother City, the Festival welcomes an explosion of performances that are free of charge to all.
This year the ICA LIVE ART Festival delivers an ambitious collection of over 40 works for the public to feast on – including works of visual art, dance, music, and literature – in a diverse and provocative programme that will take audiences on a performative journey across Cape Town.
With a focus on the development and histories of live art, the 2018 Festival features a number of artists who connect contemporary live art with classical African tradition, reminding audiences that the presence of live art on the African continent long predates the coinage of the term in the West. Visual and performing arts and traditional practices intersect with some of the most significant social and political themes of our time, challenging our experience of live art and opening up space for dialogue.
The free and public nature of the ICA LIVE ART Festival is vested in a commitment to the value of contemporary live art as a means of facilitating encounters that encourage people to think and feel about a range of important issues in new and different ways.
ICA Director and Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town, Jay Pather: "The struggle for intimacy and identity in today's world is apparent all around us, and this year's ICA LIVE ART Festival speaks to this struggle, grappling with some of our deepest ideas, fears, and visions of what society is and could be. As a global community, there is an urgency to rethink and reimagine our strategies for surviving continued pervasive crises that confront our natural environment, political stability, and social relations. The ICA LIVE ART Festival prompts us to see and think differently, offering audiences the tools to ditch their discretion and free their imagination.
"We invite the people of Cape Town to join us in experiencing this powerful array of experimental and often transgressive artworks in the risk-taking, non-commercial environment that the Festival provides."
Join Africa's artists, art enthusiasts, tourists, pedestrians and inner-city communities in Cape Town for the ICA LIVE ART Festival's line-up of alluring and immersive performances that will take the public to the corners of their comfort zones.
Lorin Sookool - photo by Gerome Stoffels courtesy of ICA LIVE ART Festival
About the festival:
ICA LIVE ART Festival performances will tour across public venues in the Mother City from the University of Cape Town, to the Iziko South African National Gallery, Iziko South African Museum and Iziko Planetarium, Zeitz MOCAA, Luxurama Theatre, Maitland Institute and various spaces in the city centre, such as the Cape Town Train Station, the Company's Garden, the Castle of Good Hope, Erf 81, and the Central Library. The 2018 programme features screenings, performances, artworks and interactive installations by over 50 contemporary artists including:
Sethembile Msezane; Albert Khoza and Robyn Orlin; FAKA; Pumflet; Toni Stuart and Ella Mesma; Nelisiwe Xaba; Meghna Singh; Edda Sickinger; Greer Valley; Leila Khan and Nombuso Mathibela; Qondiswa James; John Nankin; Wezile Mgibe; Siwa Mgoboza and Nobukho Nqaba; Sikhumbuzo Makandula & Mthwakazi; Athi-Patra Ruga; Mamela Nyamza; Sello Pesa and Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre; Bernard Akoi-Jackson; Lorin Sookool; Naledi Majola; Nomcebisi Moyikwa; Catherine Makhumula; Uriel Orlow; Maya Marshak and Cara Stacey; Gavin Krastin; Cornelia Knoll, Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro; Zayaan Khan; Judith Westerveld; Jackie Manyaapelo; Theo Herbst; Bongani Madondo; Sue Williamson; Alan Parker and; Mlondolozi Zondi; Laila Soliman, Stacy Hardy, Neo Muyanga and Nancy Mounir; Mlondiwethu Dubazane; Nick Mulgrew; Yaseen Manuel; Nástio Mosquito; and Donna Kukama.
For more details visit: www.ica.uct.ac.za
Fast Facts:
WHEN: 1 to 16 September 2018
WHERE: Public spaces across the City of Cape Town
ENTRANCE FEE: All performances are FREE of charge
Whilst all performances are free of charge, access is limited. We strongly encourage audiences to book by emailing [email protected] including name, the title of the performance(s), contact telephone and a number of tickets required.