ZEITZ MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART AFRICA

Description

Essentials about the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in brief

Since 2017, Cape Town has definitely had a new world-class attraction in the form of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, which is likely to become another landmark of the city in the coming years alongside Table Mountain and the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Mostly just called “Zeitz MOCAA” for short, it is the world’s largest museum for contemporary African contemporary art.

The history of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

Even before it opened, the museum was compared to other world-renowned art museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The museum was commissioned by German manager and art collector Jochen Zeitz, the former CEO of sporting goods manufacturer PUMA, and was built as a public-private partnership. Zeitz presents his extensive collection of African art there, which he has acquired since 2002. Zeitz, an art collector, has set himself the goal of making the African continent more comprehensible through art and, with the so-called “Access for All” program, wants to ensure that no visitor is denied entry due to a lack of financial means.

The building of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

With this museum building on the vibrant V&A Waterfront, British star architect Thomas Heatherwick has achieved an absolute architectural masterpiece. He set himself the Herculean task of transforming a 57-meter-high grain silo dating from 1921 and consisting of 42 vertical concrete tubes into a state-of-the-art art museum. Heatherwick decided to largely preserve the exterior form of the light-brown concrete structure, but to cut into the cylindrical silos below the roof and mill out the interior.

The building was given a glass roof in the central area, and the removal or cutting of some of the silos created the character of a “cathedral-like” atrium. On the outer wall, the structure was partially clad with glass panels that are slightly convexly curved and thus reflect the lights of the neighboring V&A Waterfront like a beacon at night.

The exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

With a total area of 9,500 square meters, 6,000 square meters of which serve as exhibition space, Zeitz MOCAA is Africa’s largest contemporary art museum and the largest museum building to be built in all of Africa in the last 100 years. In addition to exhibition space, the museum houses centers for photography, moving image and art education, a rooftop sculpture garden, a bookstore, a restaurant, technical training rooms, research labs and reading rooms. And if you want to stay in one of Cape Town’s poshest accommodations, you can stay at the luxury The Silo Hotel, located at the top of the building.