South Africa, 22nd March 2022: The 2022 International Public Arts Festival (IPAF) took place from 23-27 February in Cape Town city centre and attracted major street art talents from around the world. With the poignant theme of ‘humanity’, the artworks shared consistent commentary around social connection and togetherness.
If you would like to learn more about the artists that participated in this year’s IPAF please click HERE.
Festival organiser Lauren Fletcher says, “We are delighted with the success of this year’s IPAF. We were blown away by the concepts and diversity of the works, and the response from the public. Like last year, we used the festival to create awareness to raise awareness for incredible creative talent and to highlight Cape Town as an artistic hotspot. We are still offering guided and self-guided tours of the murals, with the aim to put money in our tour guides’ pockets, accelerate the recovery of the visitor economy, and increase footfall to town.”
The IPAF murals form a fascinating ‘map’ of current issues and commentary from around the world. Baz-Art co-founder, Alexandre Tilmans adds, “We are especially proud to be part of the ‘Your Best Shot’ initiative, in partnership with Santam and Accelerate Cape Town. This campaign includes six murals that spread a message to ‘get vaxxed’. The largest work can be found in the heart of the city, on the corner of Loop and Strand Street. Artists include Bushy Wopp, Mernette Swarts, Silas Ras Moetse, Wayne BKS (aka Conform) and Dekor One.”
Here are the walls from the IPAF 2022:
Artists: Bushy Wopp, Mernette Swarts, Silas Ras Moetse, Wayne Bks and Dekor. The ‘Your Best Shot’ mural urges all South Africans to choose to get vaccinated. It’s painted in partnership with Santam and Accelerate Cape Town.Artist: Broken Fingaz, a self-taught art collective from Israel. Their mural seeks to draw a parallel between South Africa’s Apartheid in the past and the situation in their own country and is based on archival images from both South Africa and Israel.Artist: Case Maclaim, aka Andres Von Chrzanowski; a world-renowned German urban artist. The mural pays homage to the people of Bo-Kaap and is located in Wale Street.Artist: Isaac Zavale, a fine artist, muralist and co-founder of Prints on Paper, from Mozambique. His mural is a tribute to the strength of South African women and seeks to demonstrate the link between gender-based violence and alcohol.Artist: Little Jems, aka Jemma Bortz; an up-and-coming artist residing in Johannesburg. Her mural focuses on common shared experiences amongst all humans and togetherness.Artist: Manolo Mesa, a Spanish graffiti artist and ceramicist. His mural seeks to inspire us to reflect on human unity and depicts the world’s oldest pottery and ceramic artefacts used by the first humans.Artist: Motelseven, a local artist who started their street art career in Cape Town. She is now exhibited around the world and her take on humanity is that we need to be in solace and reflection to find perspective on what it means to be human.Artist: Psoman is a painter and graffiti artist from Belgium, who has works around the world. His mural is a call against speciesism and seeks to remind us that all humans are responsible for the protection of all life on earth.Artist: Stefan Smit, a South African fine artist currently exhibiting locally and internationally. His piece depicts the importance of human and social connection.Artist: Yessiow, aka Yessi Nur Mulianawati; an illustrator and mural artist from Bali. The mural is called “Listen” and shows how listening is crucial for a deeper human connection.
This year Baz-Art teamed up with StateoftheART gallery to showcase Lisette Forsyth’s latest body of work with a temporary mural. Read up more about her work here.
Artist: Lisette Forsyth – StateoftheART temporary mural. Using acrylic paints and multiple stencils, she painted a series of children playing and climbing around the grid-like layout of the Gallery windows.
Fletcher concludes, “It’s been another memorable IPAF, with street art once again acting as a beautiful, evocative catalyst for conversation. The calibre of the artists was outstanding. If you haven’t seen the ‘final walls’ in person, we urge you to do so by supporting one of our local tour guides! You can book a tour online, via our website, or download a map to wander through the works yourself.”
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