Open Call: ICA Live Art Festival 2026

Open Call: ICA Live Art Festival 2026

Institute for Creative Arts (ICA), University of Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa | 14–17 October 2026

The Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) at the University of Cape Town invites artists, performers, and interdisciplinary practitioners to submit proposals for the ICA Live Art Festival 2026, taking place in Cape Town from 14–17 October 2026.

Since its inception in 2012, the ICA Live Art Festival has challenged and expanded the public’s experience of live art within a non-commercial, experimental platform. The festival has developed into a globally recognised meeting ground for live art practitioners, offering a space not only to present work to diverse audiences, but also to build relationships across organisations, disciplines, cultures, and geographies.

Over the years, the festival has hosted artists from across Africa and the Global South, fostering dialogue between performance, ritual, technology, embodied knowledge, and political imagination.

Artists can learn more about previous editions of the festival on the ICA website.

Call for Proposals

The ICA invites both emerging and established artists to submit proposals to present work at the 2026 ICA Live Art Festival.

Proposals may take the form of Live performance, performance lecture, digital or hybrid performance work, performative installation, site-responsive or public space intervention, participatory or durational work, or other experimental formats yet to be imagined.

The ICA does not prescribe a specific theme and encourages artists to propose bold and innovative work that explores the possibilities of live art practice.

Works may range from short interventions and intimate encounters to full-length performances or durational works unfolding over several days.

Support

Successful applicants will receive: