“What problems haven't been resolved by one generation are passed to another” Curator Heba EL KAYAL about GENERATIONS at ICTAF 2025

interviewArt Fair

Feb 18

Curator Heba El Kayal introduces Play/Play-ing: GENERATIONS, one of the fair’s key sections of Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025. This section emphasises the importance of artists convening and collaborating across time and space with awareness and respect. The curator brings disruption in our own perceptions, introducing artists which engage with communities, places, and the world through fresh, relevant practices. If play is the innate language of children, expressed with effortless fluency, how do we lose that ease as adults—and with it, our way to engage with the world fluidly and lightheartedly?

MAYÌ-ARTS : Playing almost sounds like an inviting challenge amidst the current context. Can you expand on the vision behind this concept?

Heba EL KAYAL : Playing requires a lot of commitment. Have you ever noticed how children block out the world to engage in their play? This is how I see artists when they are expressing a point of view, creating a work or contemplating their environment, that there is a commitment of play and focus. I think perhaps blocking out the noise of today's troubling current climates be it social, political or environmental is the only way in which both us and artists can stop to contemplate and think.

“What problems haven’t been resolved by one generation are passed to another, like a baton in a race. ”

— Heba EL KAYAL

MAYÌ-ARTS : How does play function as a radical act in contemporary art?

Heba EL KAYAL : I think to commit to "playing" which I am interchanging for the whole act of thinking, responding and creation in response is a radical act in and of itself because most people today are looking away from what's going on in the world, few are actively engaged in trying to resolve issues or problems, and playing has become the act of resistance and activism.

*In conversation with Okuhlanza,* Mbali DHLAMINI

MAYÌ-ARTS : What role does intergenerational dialogue play in sustaining artistic play?

Heba EL KAYAL : What problems haven't been resolved by one generation are passed to another, like a baton in a race. I think intergenerational dialogue is imperative not least because nothing great arises out of a vacuum but only due to the back and forth exchange of dialogue between people, and it's important for knowledge and learning to be passed on from one generation to the next.

MAYÌ-ARTS : The role of a curator is constantly evolving. Last year, you hosted ‘Curatorial Chronicles’ as part of the Fair Talks programme. Given your multifaceted background, how do you approach curating in the context of a fair like Investec Cape Town Art Fair?

Heba EL KAYAL : Although a fair is essentially a commercial endeavour, I take any curatorial or speaking opportunity I get as an opportunity to educate people and provoke conversation so I strive to present a multifaceted conversation or presentation to engage as many people as I can and have as many artists as possible speak.

“I would rather propose to visitors to turn their phones off and contemplate the works with focus”

— Heba EL KAYAL

MAYÌ-ARTS : How would you describe your curatorial process when working with the two galleries and artists to shape GENERATIONS?

Heba EL KAYAL : As a curator I never assume my vision is better or try to impose anything without there being a dialogue and agreement between myself and the artist(s). I asked them to educate me or highlight what I might not be seeing and I processed this information so that it can be presented in a visual arrangement to highlight them in the best way possible.

MAYÌ-ARTS : Who/What are your must-sees this edition ?

Heba EL KAYAL : I want to say the whole Generations section rather than one or two artists ! I would rather propose to visitors to turn their phones off and contemplate the works with focus so they can get a deep sense of understanding of the works and their significance and the presentation as a whole.