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The inaugural edition of the Cape Town Photography Festival will explore the multifaceted concept of HERITAGE through photography, offering a platform to engage with visual narratives from local, national, and international perspectives. Heritage is a powerful link between the past, present, and future. It fosters a sense of belonging, grounding us in place and time while helping us understand where we come from, and who we are. Heritage informs identity. With a dynamic progrmme of Exhibitions, Talks and Workshops and we aim to engage diverse audiences and foster deep connections with the youth through our educational workshops.
"Cape Town has a rich history of celebrating photography, having hosted the Month of Photography festival from the late 1990s until 2014. Since then, the photographic landscape in South Africa has evolved significantly, with a new generation of artists using the medium to explore urgent social, political, and environmental issues. The city itself has also grown as a cultural hub, now home to two new private museums that reflect its expanding commitment to the arts" (Heidi Erdmann / Festival Director).
Portrait by Sean Wilson
festival Exhibitions
Attached to the Soil
Roger Ballen's Johannesburg
Attached to the Soil
Peter Glendinning (Michigan, USA).
Portraits of young South Africans and their thoughts on the significance of Nelson Mandela’s metaphor made at his inauguration in 1995 where he likened South Africans to different types of trees which were all attached to the same soil.
Simon's Town Museum
Opening Wed 3 Sept 6pm
Opening address Peter Glendinning
Future Heritage
Roger Ballen's Johannesburg
Attached to the Soil
Mohau Modisakeng (South Africa), Jun Ahn, (South Korea), Goo Gijeong (South Korea) & Boris Eldagsen (Germany) Curated by Suok-Won Yoon (South Korea).
Aspire Art
Opening 4 Sept 6pm
Suok-Won Yoon will be present
©Jun Ahn
Roger Ballen's Johannesburg
Roger Ballen's Johannesburg
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
"As a photographer and artist, my work goes beyond conventional photography; it seeks to explore the depths of the human psyche"
Central Library
Opens Fri 5 Sept 3 - 5pm
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
Heritage in Mauritius is not a straight line. Lineages are fractured by exile, indenture, migration and silence. Curated by Karen Pang & Meha Desai with Audrey Albert, Melisa Madanamootoo, David Rogers, Catherine Li, Laurent de Froberville & Javed Jeetoo
Alliance Française
MEET THE CURATORS 5pm Thursday 4 Sept
Opening event 4 Sept 6pm
©Meha Desai
Frail and Flowering
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
District Six People Lived Here
Margaret Courtney-Clarke is an award-winning Namibian photographer and photojournalist. Her work explores the resilience of communities enduring the rapidly shifting landscapes of Namibia. Curated by Virginia MacKenny.
Margaret Courtney-Clarke will be present
Artvark Gallery. Kalk Bay
Opening 4 Sept 6pm
District Six People Lived Here
This was my home: Mauritian heritage
District Six People Lived Here
In 1970 the Cape Provincial Institute of Architects commissioned Wissema (1920–1975) to document the building, the street life and the people of District Six. This exhibition also includes a few images from the Van Kalker Photo Studio (1937 - 1978). Courtesy of District Six Museum.
Cape Institute for Architecture
Opening 4 Sept 6pm
Opening address by Laura Robinson
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
Moena Weiss (Berlin/San Francisco). Weiss is a photographer and clinical psychologist and explores the intersection of art and psychology.
YoungBlood Gallery
Opening 4 Sept 6pm
Moena Weiss will be present
Madoli Wam
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
A solo installation by Senzeni Marasela.
Curated by Banthatile Rwasoka
Central Library
Opens Fri 5 Sept 3 - 5pm
Family Album
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
The entity outside the boundaries
Naoya Yoshikawa (Osaka, Japan). The photographer recreated a new family album after the sudden death of his mother.
WORLDART Gallery
MEET THE ARTIST Tues 9 Sept 1-2pm
Opening Reception 9 Sept at 6pm (by invitation)
The entity outside the boundaries
The entity outside the boundaries
The entity outside the boundaries
Solo exhibition by Suok-Won Yoon (South Korea).
Central Library
MEET THE ARTIST. Fri 5 Sept 3 - 5pm
…Looking In?
The entity outside the boundaries
…Looking In?
Selection of Jürgen Schadeberg's (1931-2020) hand prints on loan from Kilbourn Collection. Curated by Stefan Hundt.
Sanlam Art Gallery, Bellvile
Opening Thursday 11 Sept 6:30pm
Address by Frank Kilbourn
Uitsig
The entity outside the boundaries
…Looking In?
Photographs by Ashley Walters from his acclaimed series, Uitsig. Curated by Stefan Hundt and drawn from Sanlam's permanent collection.
Sanlam Art Gallery, Bellville
Opening Thursday 11 Sept 6:30
Perde Mense
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Shifting Sands
A capsule installation by Gabrielle
Kannemeyer. Captured over two years at local horse shows and within equestrian communities, the work centers riders, trainers, and families often marginalized in prevailing narratives of equestrianism.
Art Gallery at Central Library
MEET THE ARTIST Fri 5 Sept 3 - 5pm
Shifting Sands
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Shifting Sands
New solo exhibition by acclaimed Johannesburg-based artist, Lindokuhle Sobekwa. Winner of the 2025 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.
Curated by Nandi Jakuja
Goodman Gallery, Cape Town
Supplied image cropped.
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Rafs Mayet, Barry White, Frank Marshall, Jürgen Schadeberg, Oscar Gutierez, Pierre Crocquet, Tim Hopwood, Joëlle Chesselet, Paul Weinberg, Gregory Franz, John Hogg, Guy Tillim, Willem Mulder, Nic Hofmeyr, Nicky Newman, TJ Lemon, Gary van Wyk, Steve Hilton-Barber, Dale Yudelman, Patrick de Mervelec, Karina Turok and a solo presentation of
Rafs Mayet, Barry White, Frank Marshall, Jürgen Schadeberg, Oscar Gutierez, Pierre Crocquet, Tim Hopwood, Joëlle Chesselet, Paul Weinberg, Gregory Franz, John Hogg, Guy Tillim, Willem Mulder, Nic Hofmeyr, Nicky Newman, TJ Lemon, Gary van Wyk, Steve Hilton-Barber, Dale Yudelman, Patrick de Mervelec, Karina Turok and a solo presentation of photographs by Ian Bruce Huntley Curated Carsten Rasch.
6 Spin Street Gallery
Opening 4 September 6pm
©FrankMarshall
Resisting the Pixel: Narratives in Analogue
Resisting the Pixel: Narratives in Analogue
Shooting Stars: a look at music photography
Alex Hamilton, Busiswa Mazwana, Chloe Obermeyer, Claudia Schneider, Clerissa Visser, Danie Nel, Dennis da Silva, Geert Oliver, Graeme Lees, Heinz Modler, Irvine Meyer, Lunga Kama, Paul Stander, Rodney Rudman, Sayako Sugawara, Sean Wilson, Sharday Swanepoel, Sophie Smith, Tiaan van Deventer and Tiandi van Niekerk.
Kingsbridge Art Gallery
Cu
Alex Hamilton, Busiswa Mazwana, Chloe Obermeyer, Claudia Schneider, Clerissa Visser, Danie Nel, Dennis da Silva, Geert Oliver, Graeme Lees, Heinz Modler, Irvine Meyer, Lunga Kama, Paul Stander, Rodney Rudman, Sayako Sugawara, Sean Wilson, Sharday Swanepoel, Sophie Smith, Tiaan van Deventer and Tiandi van Niekerk.
Kingsbridge Art Gallery
Curated by Tiaan van Deventer
Opening Sat 6 Sept 11am
©Busiswa Mazwana
Immortal Impressions
Resisting the Pixel: Narratives in Analogue
Immortal Impressions
A solo exhibition by Sean Wilson. 'Ambrotype' is the technical term for a wet plate collodion photograph
made onto glass. Loosely translated from Greek, means ‘Immortal
Impressions’.
Bijou Project Space. Observatory
Opening on Friday 5 Sept 6:30pm
Witness
Resisting the Pixel: Narratives in Analogue
Immortal Impressions
The exhibition reasserts the photographer’s role not merely
as observer or documentarian, but as a critical agent as producer of realities. Kuba Freter (Germany), Nonzuzo Gxekwa, Johno Mellish and Manyatsa Monyamane.
THK Gallery
Opening Thursday 11 Sept 6pm
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
A group exhibition featuring some of South Africa's leading photographers.
Billy Monk, Roy Zetisky, Paul Alberts, Jodi Bieber, David Lurie, Pierre Crocquet, Roger Ballen, Jurgen Schadeberg, Ginger Odes, George Hallet, Cloete Breytenbach, Juhan Kuus, Obie Oberholzer, Gavin Furlonger, David Levine, James Soullier and Gunther Komnick.
Gallery F
Opening 4 Sept 6pm
©Ginger Odes
manye / now / ima 今
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
Student Photography. Curated by Naoya Yoshikawa (Osaka University of Arts, Japan), Ashley Walters (Stellenbosch University ) and Dr Waldemar Bussiahn (Cape Town University of Technology). ©Saori Komai
Central Library
Opening Friday 5 Sept at 3-5pm
GUS Gallery (Stellenbosch)
Opening 16 Sept at 6pm
Through Kids' Eyes
Beyond the Lens: The Inside Story
Through Kids' Eyes
Gabrielle Kannemeyer has, since 2024, been intermittently engage in a documentary and community-focused photography project with a group of youths who ride wild-roaming horses in a valley in the Overberg. These are their photographs.
The ARENA at Central Library. ©Tyrique
The Children's Photography Awards are courtesy of
MTN SA Foundation
Unfiltered
Unfiltered
Through Kids' Eyes
This group exhibition curated by Heidi Erdmann is partly online and partly on view at WORLDART Gallery. Nomusa Makhubu, Brenton Geach, Sam Reinders, Andreas Werner, Verity Fitzgerald, Inge Prins, Nicole Fraser, Susanna Neunast, Obie Oberholzer and others.
WORLDART Gallery & Online
Opening Thur 4 Sept 6pm
©Sam Reinders
Motherhood
Unfiltered
Motherhood
Motherhood: Paradox and Duality curated by Andrea Lewis, explores the multifaceted nature of motherhood through the works of 70 Southern African artists. Photographs by Zanele Muholi, Haneem Christian, Nomusa Makhuba, Jean Brundrit, Leah Hawker, Svea Josephy, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Lebohang Kganye and more.
Iziko South African National Gallery
Poster image supplied
SPEAKERS
UNFILTERED: online & on-site
Nomusa Makhubu
Verity Fitzgerald
Verity Fitzgerald
In Living Colour. Carnival (2015)
Two hand woven colour photographs
63 x 92 cm
Framed
Verity Fitzgerald
Verity Fitzgerald
Verity Fitzgerald
Firewood (2024)
Archival print on Hahnemühle museum etching paper (Neil Williamson)
65 x 52 cm. Edition 1/5
Susanna Neunast
Verity Fitzgerald
Susanna Neunast
Low Tide Moon XX (2025) Hahnemühle Baryta paper mounted on Dibond, collage of two photos with Acrylic circle 100 x 100 cm
(Unique piece)
Nicole Fraser
Nicole Fraser
Susanna Neunast
Untitled (Abby’s Room II)
2024
Inkjet Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag
Paper Size 220 x 176 mm
Framed
Edition of 3 + AP (1/3)
Nicole Fraser
Nicole Fraser
Nicole Fraser
Untitled (My Grandmother’s Sewing Table)
Printed 2024 | Taken in 2023
Hand Printed Silver Gelatin (Dennis da Silva) on 100% Cotton Rag
Paper Size 305 mm x 406 mm
Framed
Edition of 3 + AP (3/3)
Roger Ballen
Nicole Fraser
Nicole Fraser
Dancing with the Angel, 2015
From Roger the Rat series
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag pearl paper
35 x 27 cm. Edition 10/15
Peter Glendinning
Peter Glendinning
Peter Glendinning
Ntando Ngwenya (2019)
Archival inkjet print on Canson Infinity Baryta paper
33 x 48.2 cm
Attached to the Soil exhibition
Sean Wilson
Peter Glendinning
Peter Glendinning
Waterline 11 (2001)
Silver gelatin Lith print
40 x 42 cm. Edition 15/25
Sam Reinders
Peter Glendinning
St John Fuller
Barmugar (2017)
From the series, and they came running
Colour photograph
59.4 x 84 cm. Edition /20 + 2AP
St John Fuller
Richard Mark Dobson
St John Fuller
Zapiro (2017)
From Oracles series
Pinhole portrait printed on Felix Schoeller True Rag paper
40 x 40 cm. Edition 3/7
St John Fuller
Richard Mark Dobson
Richard Mark Dobson
Vusi (2015)
From the series 13 (portraits of artists)
Pinhole portrait printed onto Felix Schoeller True Rag paper
40 x 40 cm. Edition 3/7
Richard Mark Dobson
Richard Mark Dobson
Richard Mark Dobson
White Horse (2004)
From Karoo Moons series
Archival pigment ink print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm
(Neil Williamson)
49.5 x 58 cm
Unsigned released with a certificate
Sam Reinders
Brenton Geach
Brenton Geach
Calvin (2018)
From the series, and they came running
Colour photograph
59.4 x 84 cm. Edition /20 + 2AP
Brenton Geach
Brenton Geach
Brenton Geach
A boy from "Posh Vibrant Youth" troupe leaps during the Tweede Nuwe Jaar minstrel procession. 2 January 2024. (Photo: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images)
Sam Reinders
Brenton Geach
Andreas Werner
Barsiera (2018)
From the series, and they came running
Colour photograph
59.4 x 84 cm. Edition /20 + 2AP
Andreas Werner
Andreas Werner
Andreas Werner
Yakuza, Tokyo (2016)
Colour photograph
62. 5 x 84 cm. Edition 1/10
Inge Prins
Andreas Werner
Inge Prins
Running
Piezography print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm (Neil Williamson)
38 x 20.8cm
TJ Lemon
Andreas Werner
Inge Prins
Oswenka, Jeppe Hostel Swankers (2000)
A group of swenka strike a pose as they ready themselves to perform in a competition for the best dressed man and win a small cash prize from a pooled entrance fee.
Archival print
30 x 40 cm. Edition 4/ 10
Pieter Badenhorst
Pieter Badenhorst
Pieter Badenhorst
Mine Hostel, Rand Mines (2005)
From Rugby vs Soccer series
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Baryta paper 315gms
100 x 86 cm. Edition 1/7
Wentzel Pretorius
Pieter Badenhorst
Pieter Badenhorst
Overberg
Archival pigment ink on Fine Art Baryta Satin paper 300gsm (Neil Williamson)
71 x 48 cm. Edition 1/10
Monique Pelser
Pieter Badenhorst
Monique Pelser
Soldier (2016) From Conversations with my Father series
Archival pigment print
20 x 25 cm. Edition 1/5
Digital screen capture from a family archive photograph. Image is run through a printer running out of ink
Dewald Aukema
Lambro Tsiliyiannis
Monique Pelser
Children of Potosí, Bolivia (2008)
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gms (Neil Williamson)
71 x 52.9 cm. Edition 1/10
Lambro Tsiliyiannis
Lambro Tsiliyiannis
Lambro Tsiliyiannis
Dancing Trance Boy (1994)
Archival print
80 x 55 cm. Edition 1/ 30
While shooting a television commercial with Femi Kuti in Nigeria three kids arrived on the beach beating a coconut shell. The dancing boy went into a hypnotic rapture.
