Activating Winter: Heat’s Celebration of Emerging Talent

Evidence of Things Not Seen at EBONY/CURATED. ALL IMAGES BY DOMENIC SINGH-GORIN

Cape Town showed up for winter. The Heat Winter Arts Festival 2025, produced by Corrigall & Co., wrapped with sell-out live events, novel art and music pairings in museums, and a city centre buzzing with a diverse array of gallery openings and digital events all speaking to the Other Worlding theme. In an effort to elicit dialogue between different art forms, artists and galleries, the Heat Festival is united by a theme.

This year it was conceived by curator Voni Baloyi and was satisfyingly teased out in a talk she mediated at the conclusion of the festival titled Afrofuturies: Other Worlds, in which she conversed with Dr Thabang Monoa and artists participating in the festival – Balekane Legoabe, exhibiting at EBONY/CURATED and Keabetswe Seema, who was showing at Circa Gallery. The theme provided a lens through which to consider what drives artists and the role of art in our society.

With 14 exhibitions, an opera programme, 7 theatre performances, 3 digital art programmes, two stand-up comedy sets and 10 live music events all curated to engage with this theme, it made for a rich cultural programme. Our intention to cross-pollinate audiences – encourage those, for example, who enjoy stand-up comedy to attend an art exhibition or vice versa – is bearing fruit; in our audience survey, we found that the majority of attendees patronised different genres, though our art and music programming was the most popular. This is why festivals offering diverse programming succeed in growing audiences for different art forms.

As the festival was born from a need to activate Cape Town's art scene in winter, our primary objective has been to create the conditions that inspire galleries to stage exciting exhibitions and increase foot traffic during a quiet season.

84% of the galleries that participated in our festival this year reported that they saw an increase in visitor numbers - with 42% indicating it was a significant increase. 50% also reported on sales generated during the festival.

In 2025 edition saw a 70% increase in audiences from last year. With 76% of attendees indicating that they spent over R300 over and above tickets on drinks, food or accommodation, the economic impact of the festival is estimated to be between R3.4 and R5-million.

Our gallery partners staged a diverse array of exhibitions that championed emerging artists they had not worked with before. Focusing on young or unknown artists is part of Heat's ethos. To further support those artists and galleries, we produced a free publication, HEAT: Emerging Artists You Should Know. Artists handpicked by the galleries are profiled in this publication, which was the culmination of a writing programme funded by the Spier Arts Trust and in partnership with the UCT Fine Art Department.

Cape Town boasts some extraordinarily talented visual and performing artists. The next generation of art stars came to the fore through the gallery's considered selection of artists. Heat curator Nkgopoleng Moloi was impressed by Legoabe, showing at EBONY/CURATED, Yonela Makoba, showing at RESERVOIR, Zenaeca Singh and Sophia Van Wyk at Untitled Art; and Oupa Sibeko's work at Lemkus Gallery. Rebaone Finger, showing at Everard Read/Circa Gallery, Ulriche Jantjes at Untitled Art, and Marsi Van der Heuval and Garethy Nydoro at RESERVOIR stood out for Baloyi.

AKEEDA at Lemkus Gallery.

Opera UCT's Dreams and Desires programme, curated by its director Jeremy Silver, delivered a blast of young talent with 20 singers in training wowing audiences at the Alliance Française du Cap. The contemporary music programme curated by Quiet Life was a hit, with shows by rising young stars and acts such as Jabulile Majola and Yellow House selling out long before the doors opened. While Kujenga, the Nala Collective filled the capacious Central Methodist Mission, and the talented trio of young female singers - guilette price, Akeeda and Mishy Kope – packed the Lemkus Gallery.

Confused Mhlaba directed by Kitso Seti.

Young theatre-makers such as Tankiso Mambolo (Don't believe a word I say) and Kitso Seti (director of the revival of Confused Mhlaba), Ama Gaisie and Max du Toit (Lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons), and Frans Immelman and Michael McKenzie (Zoo Story) headlined an impressive theatre programme.

Robby Collins had just been named Comic of the Year before he headlined the second sell-out stand-up comedy set curated by Comedy in Common.

Digital Cosmos at Iziko Planetarium.

The digital programme proved popular, with tickets for the African premiere of the VR/theatre work Symbiosis/Dysbiosis selling out and the Iziko Planetarium almost at full capacity for the Digital Cosmos programme, which presented a mix of digital films and VR works. Wessel Albertse's Convergence, which was installed at the festival hub at the Alliance Française, spoke directly to the theme, presenting an immersive vision of Cape Town in the future.

The long-term aim of this festival is to establish an annual cultural event that will attract audiences not only from Cape Town but also from surrounding towns and other cities in South Africa, Africa and the world.

This vision is within reach and is supported by all our partners and sponsors, which include BASA, Wesgro, the Western Cape Government Department of Arts & Culture, Mission for Inner City Cape Town, Spier Arts Trust, Iziko Museums and our generous partners that include HUB Gallery, Cape Town Heritage Hotel, VR Events, Orms, Soapbox and Alliance Française du Cap.

Thank you to every artist, partner and supporter who took risks with us.