Zeitz MOCAA Gallery Africa's Largest Contemporary Art Gallery

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WORDS Amaury de Sart

While walking around the V&A Waterfront, one of the most touristic places in Cape Town, you might notice the construction noise coming from the old Grain Silo building. The construction signals a promising future for not only Capetonian artists, but artists from around the continent as the historical building undergoes its transformation into Africa’s largest contemporary art gallery, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art African (Zeitz MOCAA).

The future Zeitz MOCAA, which is under construction at the Waterfront. Photo: courtesy of Heatherwick Studio

In 2011, the English architect Thomas Heatherwick, designer of the 2012 London Olympic cauldron, was appointed to lead the redevelopment of the Grain Silo building at the V&A Waterfront and develop it into Africa’s largest contemporary art gallery. The ambitious project has to preserve the authenticity of the old landmark building, and yet upgrade it to house significant African art work and exhibitions from all over the world.

Everyone who has experienced life in Cape Town knows, the Mother City is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists and travellers alike. Each corner reveals its creativity to passers-by and displays talents for all to appreciate. Street art, museums, architecture and design provide inspiration that seems never ending. This multicultural city creates an incomparable artistic atmosphere which will be expanded by this new attraction, due to be completed by end of 2016.

Workers and designers tackled the colossal question described by Heatherwick Studio’s: ‘How do you turn forty-two vertical concrete tubes into a place to experience

The Grain Silo building is being converted in such a way to preserve the cultural history of the site, and yet upgrade the area to contain the largest contemporary Africa gallery. Photo: Amaury de Sart

contemporary culture?’ Clearly, they found an answer because the plans reveal that 9,500 square metres over nine floors, will host 80 galleries and 18 educational areas. A rooftop garden will offer an amazing view of the Waterfront and its harbour. The gallery will display contemporary art from the 21st century. The design will be without precedent. Heatherwick’s website explains, ‘Rather than strip out the evidence of the building’s industrial heritage, we wanted to find a way to celebrate it. We could either fight a building made of concrete tubes or enjoy its tube-iness.’

The whole project is estimated to cost R500 million and materialised through a partnership between the V&A Waterfront and Jochen Zeitz, the German director of Kering and Chairman of the board’s Sustainable Development Committee. Zeitz has provided the funding for construction and new acquisitions. Moreover, an important part of the collection already belongs to him, dispersed in museums all over the world. The objective of the museum is ‘to create a major new cultural institution that will focus on collecting, preserving, researching, and exhibiting cutting-edge contemporary art from Africa and its Diaspora’. The new MOCAA aims to become one of the biggest ambassadors for African art.

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