Zeitz Mocaa

Zeitz MOCAA — the Museum of Contemporary Art Africa — is unquestionably one of the most important and most spectacular museums on the continent. Inaugurated in September 2017 in the heart of Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, it has become in just a few years a major cultural institution on a global scale.

The architecture — a masterpiece by Heatherwick Even before considering the art, the building itself is a work of art. Zeitz MOCAA is housed in the port’s grain silos, built in 1921 and long since abandoned. British architect Thomas Heatherwick — the same visionary mind behind the Vessel in New York and the Garden Bridge in London — has achieved an absolutely breathtaking transformation. He hollowed out the 42 cylindrical silo tubes to create a cathedral-like central atrium, sculpted from raw concrete like an organic, luminous cavern. Natural light filters down from the glazed roof at the top and floods this vertiginous nine-storey space in an almost mystical way. The result is breathtaking — brutal and poetic all at once.

The collection Zeitz MOCAA houses the largest collection of contemporary African art and its diaspora in the world, with over 6,000 works. The collection belongs to Jochen Zeitz, former CEO of Puma and passionate art collector, who loaned it to the museum to form the institution’s beating heart. The artists represented come from across the African continent and its global diaspora — South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Congo, Egypt, as well as Europe, the Americas and Asia. It is an extraordinary window onto contemporary African creativity in all its diversity and vitality.

The exhibitions The museum spans 9,500 square metres across nine floors, with 80 galleries. The exhibitions blend the permanent collection with temporary shows that regularly bring internationally acclaimed artists to Cape Town. Zeitz MOCAA has quickly earned a reputation as a bold institution — one that takes risks and engages with political, social and identity-related questions with a frankness rarely seen in the museum world. Decolonisation, African identity, gender and postcolonialism are at the heart of its programming.

A powerful cultural symbol The opening of Zeitz MOCAA in 2017 was seen as a historic moment for African art — at last a museum of this scale, on the continent itself, dedicated exclusively to contemporary African creativity. Before it, the great collections of African art were held primarily by Western institutions — MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern. Zeitz rebalanced something fundamental in the world’s cultural geography.

The shop and the rooftop The museum houses an excellent design shop featuring works by African artists and designers, art books and unique objects unavailable anywhere else. At the top of the building, the Silo Hotel — a luxury hotel integrated into the upper floors of the silos — has a rooftop bar with panoramic views over the harbour, Table Mountain and the ocean. Even if you are not staying at the hotel, the bar is open to visitors and offers one of the most spectacular vistas in all of Cape Town.