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Top Billing explores the Zietz Museum
Top Billing explores the Zietz Museum
If man cannot live by bread alone then how better to make the point than by transforming an old grain silo into a thrilling new Zeitz MOCAA museum of contemporary African art.
It took a healthy imagination to see the 42 industrial concrete tubes of the original grain silo as a viable space to house sculptures, paintings and photography. But creative vision can see through concrete and here is what it saw.
With a hundred smaller galleries within its greater structure, the museum collects, preserves, researches and shows 21st century work by artists from our continent. A mammoth task, proudly overseen by Chief Curator Mark Coetzee.
Increasingly, there are art audio tours for adults, children and for those interested in the architecture. Currently in English, these will soon be available in Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans.
The success of the museum is balancing the story of art from our continent with the grand tale of the building. Standing ten storeys high, the silo was the tallest structure in the city for years. As a civil engineer and CEO of the V&A Waterfront, David Green loves to share how they made it happen.
The art itself was collected over years by a German businessman renowned for turning around a major sportswear brand – Jochen Zeitz.
For Jochen, it is essential for children from Africa to be initiated into their incredible heritage. His own son Jesse was born just before the museum opened.
The best news is that there is free entry for under eighteens all year and at all times and for all African citizens of any age each and every Wednesday - from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Come for the architecture, design, the view, these works or to expand and challenge your ideas about art – but when in Cape Town, the Zeitz MOCAA is a must.
