Top street art in Cape Town

Map of street art in Cape Town (South Africa)

Cape Town's street art has deep roots in the country's political history. During the Apartheid era, graffiti served as a tool of resistance on the city's walls. Salt River's Wall of Fame, a stretch of trackside surfaces, became a key canvas from the late 1980s for the most prolific local artists. The decline of the textile industry in the 1990s freed up vast facades across Woodstock and Salt River, laying the ground for an artistic transformation of both neighbourhoods.

Woodstock concentrates the highest density of works, from socially engaged pieces on inequality and gentrification to photo-realistic portraits. Salt River, where the International Public Art Festival (IPAF) brought artists from around the world to cover over 125 building facades, extends this creative corridor east of the centre. Bo-Kaap, the historic neighbourhood of colourful houses, hosts murals celebrating Cape Malay heritage by Falko One and Nardstar.

Falko One, regarded as the pioneer of graffiti in South Africa, is known for his iconic elephants scattered from the CBD to Muizenberg. Faith47, a Cape Town-born artist with an international profile, built her reputation through socially charged murals across the city's neighbourhoods and townships. An annual street art festival in February brings together local and international artists for new murals and temporary installations.

Find the 1 artworks by the following street artists in Cape Town (South Africa)

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