Excitement mounts as Africa’s largest street art festival brings new murals to the CBD

CAPE TOWN - Africa’s largest street art festival, the International Public Arts Festival (IPAF), will return to Cape Town for its sixth edition this week with an improved programme, featuring bespoke street art installations and a new art conference.

The IPAF is organised by Baz-Art, an organisation dedicated to creating conversation through public art and show, expressed through a festival and murals.

The new murals will go up in the CBD and will include some multi-storey public art.

Tasked with the assignment of beautifying the walls are 15 artists, 10 of them local.

The artists will join a long list of more than 100 artists who have taken part in IPAF over the past six years.

This year’s artists will add to the existing 133 large-scale murals through the public arts festival.

Between festivals, Baz-Art has installed over 400 murals in Observatory, Woodstock and Salt River, among other areas.

“The City of Cape Town is proud to continue its partnership with Baz-Art for the sixth edition of the IPAF.

“The festival has played an important role in beautifying public spaces in our city while also providing a platform for local artists to express their talent,” said Safety and Security mayco member JP Smith.

An exciting new addition this year is the introduction of an art conference, which will provide artists with another platform for learning and honing their craft.

The festival will continue with the guided walking and bicycle tours in the city centre, through Salt River and Woodstock.

A group of 24 local guides, trained through IPAF, will lead the tours.

Baz-Art will also be introducing the inaugural National Public Arts Conference, which will run alongside the festival, featuring multiple talks including discussions on capturing Interactive community Input in Public Art.

The festival runs from Wednesday, February 23 until Sunday, February 27 2022.

Information on the tours is available here

Cape Times