BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

A venue for contemporary African art – Cape Town

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan

Since fall 2017, the first museum for contemporary African art has been located in a spectacular building in the port of Cape Town. It is hard to believe that no other venue with a similar focus existed anywhere else in the world. The Zeitz MOCAA was established through a partnership of the V&A Waterfront and former Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz, whose own collection acts as the museum’s founding collection. Architect Thomas Heatherwick transformed a 1920s-era grain silo into an institution featuring six thousand square meters of exhibition space. In addition to temporary shows, works by important artists such as Marlene Dumas and William Kentridge are on view at Zeitz MOCAA, whose mission is to collect, preserve, research and exhibit cutting-edge contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Featuring a light-filled atrium, the nine-story building also boasts a hotel, a restaurant, and a rooftop sculpture garden that offers breathtaking views of the city and ocean.

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Photo: Iwan Baan

Kira Pohl is a writer and film maker based in Berlin. She has worked as a writer, director and producer for the german public broadcasters ARTE, WDR and many more. With her Master's Degree in art history she has worked on different documentaries about art and artists such as William Kentridge and Oskar Schlemmer.

All images courtesy Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town

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