ARTS AND CULTURE
The 2026 edition also introduces a dedicated Performance project. This addition expands the fair’ s multidisciplinary scope and reinforces the idea that listening extends beyond the visual. It involves the body. It unfolds over time. It stays alive.
The final curated section comes from Cape Town – based Beata America. Titled Cabinet /, with the subtitle Cabinet / Record, the section positions photography as an act of listening. Attention turns to archives, images, and preserved moments, where meaning is gathered through observation, memory, and care.
WHERE ART WAITS FOR YOU
For ICTAF Director Laura Vincenti, Listen functions as both an invitation and a challenge.“ By choosing‘ Listen’ as our inspiration and theme for our curated sections, we’ re inviting artists, galleries, collectors, and visitors to engage in a profound act of openness and reciprocity,” she says.
“ This theme encourages us to attune ourselves not only to what is said, but to silences, whispers, and the resonances shaping our world.”
“ More than a theme, Listen is a mode of engagement and a way of being,” the fair’ s team adds.“ It asks artists to consider what it means to be heard. It challenges curators to create sections that attract attention and presence. It invites visitors to take part in meaning-making with care.”
PAY ATTENTION – IT’ S GETTING INTERESTING
The final note matters. ICTAF 2026 does not ask visitors to consume art. It asks them to arrive with presence, to sit with uncertainty, to stay longer than intended, to let the work speak, and to notice what shifts when the urge to respond fades.
In February, Cape Town will not only host the world. It will listen to it. For those paying close attention, the air may be full of laughter. IB
FEBRUARY 2026 / INBOUND SA 27