Cape Town is about to become a living stage of art as the ICA Live Art Festival brings a lineup of visionary South African artists whose work will be displayed and performed across the Mother City’s streets, gardens, galleries, and historic spaces.
Cape Town, South Africa (02 October 2026) – A wonderfully vibrant tapestry of dance, theatre, visual art, music, architecture, and performance is about to ignite Cape Town’s streets, gardens, and heritage spaces as the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) Live Art Festival returns for its eighth edition!
Running from 14 to 18 October 2026, this year’s site-specific lineup responds to the spaces, histories and communities that define the Mother City. Rather than remaining static, audiences are invited to move through Cape Town, encountering the work where it is made and presented.
Eight routes connect various sites, including Hiddingh Campus, the Company’s Garden, the Iziko Amphitheatre, Station Forecourt, St’ Georges Mall, the Castle, 16 on Lerotholi Gallery, and Guga S’thebe.
“Every site on the programme has its own rhythm, its own audiences, its own histories,” says ICA Director Professor Nomusa Makhubu.
“The work is about listening to that context first and letting the art respond to what’s already there.”
Curated by Themba Stewart and Luvuyo Equiano Nyawose, this edition brings together a talented lineup of visionaries, including Vincent Mantsoe, Mandla Mbothwe, Mwenya Kabwe, Gavin Krastin, Auriol Hays, Qondiswa James, Wezile Harmans, Oupa Sibeko, Lungiswa Plaatjies, Meghna Singh, Sbo Ndaba Dance, and Wolff Architects.
A two-way exchange with Sweden
This year the festival adds a new and exciting exchange between South Africa and Sweden.
Swedish live artist Mauritz Tistelo joins the Cape Town programme to work with local artists, and South African dancer Lorin Sookool takes up a reciprocal placement in Sweden.
“Lorin’s placement in Sweden matters just as much as Mauritz’s time here. What our artists bring back is as valuable as anything an international guest contributes on-site.”
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Critic and writer Aruna D’Souza will deliver this year’s keynote. Her 2024 book, Imperfect Solidarities, looks at artworks and practices that build solidarity without requiring one identity or community to be absorbed into another.
At the festival, she will bring these questions into conversation with artists and collectives working amid social unrest and fragile democracies.
Free and open to all
As in previous editions, every performance is free. Because the festival is staged in public space, it reaches people beyond traditional arts audiences, including those who come for a specific work and those who come across one on their way through the city.
In your diary
The Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) Live Art Festival takes place from 14 to 18 October 2026 across Cape Town, with a Sunday programme in Langa. Around 30 performances and installations are free and open to all.
Follow the Institute for Creative Arts on Instagram, Facebook and X for festival updates.
Sources: Institute for Creative Arts
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