Every year, some of the most enduring memories of Investec Cape Town Art Fair are not the headline names but the unexpected encounters. A gallery you did not know. An artist you cannot stop thinking about. A conversation that changes the way you see the rest of the fair. Between the main sectors, Capsule, curated projects and live interventions, the fair is designed for wandering, not just ticking boxes. Build in time to get lost. The best thing you see may well be the one you did not come looking for.
Asha Eleven / at Capsule
February 20-22
Asha Eleven presents its Spring/Summer 26 collection featuring its latest seasonal prints, including Shikra, Tides, ByCoral and Mombasa Sunrise, all developed from original paintings and hand-drawn illustrations. The zero-waste, circular brand will show its upcycled accessories made from garment waste alongside a collection of framed prints and campaign imagery shot in Kenya by acclaimed photographers Edwin Maina and Kibe Nduni. It is a unique chance to see a fashion house reveal its visual language, not just its garments, and to understand the brand as a fully-fledged creative studio.
Zanele Muholi / self-portrait workshop, presented with Orms
February 20, 11am-1pm
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step into the process of a major South African visual artist. In this hands-on workshop, Zanele Muholi invites participants to create their own self-portrait, with photographic equipment provided by Orms, in an opportunity to learn how to see yourself and how to stage an image. The experience is made even more special by the fact that your portrait is printed on the spot. Intimate, empowering, and deeply memorable.
Steven Cohen / walkabout with Anthea Buys
February 20, 11am-12pm
If you want to experience art through the eyes of one of our most provocative and influential artists, this is essential. Steven Cohen, in conversation with curator Anthea Buys, leads a guided walkabout of “Long Life”, his major retrospective presently on at Iziko. This is not a conventional tour. It is an intimate, first-hand journey through more than four decades of performance, identity, ritual and resistance. Expect personal anecdotes, critical context and moments of real candour as Cohen reflects on works that have shaped contemporary performance art both locally and internationally. It is rare to have this kind of access to an artist whose practice is so embodied and uncompromising. Limited spaces, and guaranteed to be one of the most talked-about moments of the fair.
Strauss & Co / talks and auction
February 20 & 21
Strauss & Co, Africa’s premier auction house, opens its annual programme with the live-virtual sale Portway to Cohen: A Collector’s Legacy and Other Properties (February 21, Woodstock), which presents a vibrant overview of SA contemporary art. In addition, it is hosting three public talks at the fair on February 20, from 3pm-7pm. According to Elmarie van Straten, senior art specialist at Strauss & Co, “The sale is made up of work assembled by a worldly collector with a home in Cape Town.” It brings together historically significant painters such as Breyten Breytenbach, Gwladys Mgudlandlu, Stanley Pinker and Andrew Verster alongside contemporary figures such as Sanell Aggenbach, Norman Catherine, Alexandra Karakashian, Mustafa Maluka, and Deborah Poynton. Portway to Cohen: A Collector’s Legacy takes its title from two influential Joburg artists. Douglas Portway was a pivotal figure in South African painterly abstraction, while Steven Cohen is known internationally as a performance artist and dancer. straussart.co.za
From the February issue of Wanted, 2026
