The 2011 Infecting The City Public Arts Festival celebrated the theme of Treasure. The theme was chosen to encapsulate the vibrant and cosmopolitan diversity of Cape Town.
Curated by Brett Bailey, the 2011 festival invited artists and audience members alike to appreciate, take ownership of and celebrate the cultural riches that are often overlooked, neglected or discarded. The festival used original new artworks to explore: the variety of cultural expressions that often exist on the margins of society; general conceptions of waste; the people that make our city work; and the rich architectural and natural wealth of the Cape.
Some of the cultural gems that were showcased on the Jewel Stages included a martial art that was based on the knife-fighting techniques of the Cape Flats, hip-hop ‘B-Boy duels’, and the traditional riel dances of Khoisan farm workers. A collective of visual artists developed artworks throughout the festival on the Station Forecourt. They created large-scale works out of recyclable materials taken from the daily domestic garbage of five specific communities in Cape Town. Across the city, a number of local and international artists made artworks that revealed several hidden urban treasures such as underground rivers, forgotten heritage sites and intriguing people.