The inaugural Cape Town Photography Festival takes place from 4 to 27 September, celebrating the theme of HERITAGE through a dynamic programme of exhibitions, talks, and workshops. Timed with South Africa’s Heritage Month, the festival invites audiences to explore identity, memory, and belonging through diverse local and international photographic perspectives.
Festival Director Heidi Erdmann says the theme evolved naturally: “Heritage connects past, present, and future. It fosters belonging, grounds us in time and place, and helps us understand who we are.” She adds that Cape Town’s photographic landscape has flourished since the last festival in 2014, making now the ideal time to revive it.
Highlights include:
- Naoya Yoshikawa and Suok-Won Yoon, the festival’s co-curators, will each present solo exhibitions of their own work.
- Yoon curated the Future Heritage exhibition, inviting Boris Eldagsen (Berlin), a global leader in the use of AI in photography, to participate. The exhibition also features work by Mohau Modisakeng (South Africa), Ahn Jun (South Korea), and Koo Gi Jeong (South Korea), with a not-to-be-missed discussion forming part of the festival programme.
- Yoshikawa curated a student photography exhibition from Japan, which will be presented in dialogue with work by students from Stellenbosch University.
- Karen Pang and Meha Desai of Mauritius will curate an exhibition that powerfully reflects the island’s complex heritage.
- Critical conversations around places like District Six with the Van Kalker Photo Studio (1937 – 1978) on view at the District Six Museum and District Six through the lens of Jansje Wissema, on view at the Cape Institute for Architecture in Hout Street.
- Historically important exhibition on loan from the remarkable Kilbourn Collection, which will be on view at the Sanlam Art Gallery.
- Music writer Carsten Rasch has curated an exciting music photography exhibition with a vibrant programme of events.
- A conversation with Banthatile Rwasoka led to a collaboration with Senzeni Marasela, while a separate exchange about Margaret Courtney-Clarke from Namibia quickly evolved into a confirmed project.
- The children’s exhibition, Kids Eyes, is also presented in concert with JM Coetzee’s Boyhood book of photographs. It offers a poignant view of Cape Town, through the eyes of 16-year-old in 1956 and 1957.
The Talks Programme spans educational workshops, student sessions, and public discussions.
“This festival will show photography’s elasticity – from hard-hitting documentary to AI-generated works – and its power to tell stories that connect us,” says Erdmann. Full programme: capetownphotofest.co.za
