A sleepy stretch of Cape Town's False Bay coast becomes an open art circuit from 9 to 11 October 2026, when Open Studios Fish Hoek & Clovelly throws open the doors of the area's working studios, shops and community spaces. It's a rare chance to walk into the rooms where South African artists actually make things — and this year the programme starts early, with several shows up from 1 October.

The headline exhibition is a big one: at 89, Elizabeth Vels is one of South Africa's most enduring artists, a pioneer of papermaking and artist's books since the late 1970s with 14 solo shows behind her. Her show, A Cabinet of Curiosities: Recording and Recalling a Very Long Life, opens at the AP Jones department store on 1 October, spanning five decades of ceramics, oils, works on paper and book art.

AP Jones itself gets a makeover. Artists Sue Kaplan and Marlise Keith fill one front window with self-portraits from participating artists; in the other, costumier Susan Didcott (Cape Town Opera) dresses a mannequin in recycled paper and card. The store also stocks the printed trail maps, so it works as a practical first stop.

Down Main Road, Jacqui's Framery hosts Framed!, where Candice Oppenheim, Gerda Smit and Nicolene Louw use empty frames themselves as the artwork — a neat subversion from a shop whose whole job is framing.

Two new studio spaces join in 2026. Fish Hoek Studios, a collective of 11 individual studios plus a woodworking workshop, shows works in its communal area, curated by Xanthe Scout Lardner-Burke. Mothership Studios, founded as a child-friendly, community-focused makers' space, invites visitors to build a collaborative artwork: you carry a sheet of paper through artist-manned stamping stations and leave with your own piece. At Peak Café, Post-it note mini artworks go on public display, with four prizes decided by public vote.

The trail also includes the Joyce Chevalier Protective Workshop, an NPO providing sheltered employment for people with disabilities, whose beaded keyrings will mark each studio stop. And when coffee is needed, Farm Shack Café by False Bay Hospital runs extended hours with produce from its own food garden.

The free public days run Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, 10h00 to 16h00, with a paid preview on Friday 9 October in aid of breast cancer charity Project Flamingo. For anyone visiting Cape Town in spring, it's a low-cost, walkable way to meet artists in their own spaces — and to see a coastal suburb as a living creative hub rather than just a beach stop.