Cape Town is getting all the attention from the global market as an establishing art gallery district. From art museums to art hubs with growing artists, this intoxicating city is now home to an international art community. The Zeitz Museum Of Contemporary Art Africa is the largest gallery in the continent and is located in the old grain Silos on the V & A Waterfront.
Exterior view of the Zeitz Mocaa
With the Asian market completely slowing down in this business, Africans have taken their spot and filled the gap. Local Art galleries and fairs are escalating at a high and impressive rate. Cape Town has always been known a lot for being known as a pretty country, but now since the international art community has turned its attention on it, it has now become a cultural hub all owing to the art galleries, fair and world-class museums.
Full View of the magnificent Museum
Housed in the city’s center, planned and executed by the famous British Architect Thomas Heatherwick, this Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art is the biggest art space to open in the continent over a century. This gallery is all set to change the scene and immensely change the South African Art market. This huge building structure overlooking the Atlantic is built over an area regenerated 30 years ago. This was mainly kept for retail, real estate and tourism on the remnants of two dilapidated 19th-century harbor basins namely Victoria and Alfred. This £28m museum’s organizer is Jochen Zeitz, former CEO of Puma who is a German and the executive director of the museum is South African with the architect being a British this whole idea is the main solution to tate Modern.
The astounding Zeitz-Mocaa is not one of a kind. But it is the largest gallery present on the continent, with more than a 100 galleries sorted over nine high-rise floors with a beautiful boutique hotel at the top. This gallery is set to feature all the exclusive artworks of Africa along with art pieces centered around Zeitz collection.
The vision of this phenomenal art gallery initiated by Mark Coetzee, Zeitz-Mocaa’s executive director, and chief curator is that the gallery is a platform for all the African Artists to expose and narrate their story and be a part of it. Many art critics feel that the Zeitz collection is more pop with a lot of graphics mostly with artworks post 2010 by younger artists on display. They feel the gallery has to incorporate more of exclusive multi-vocal African stories by experienced African artists. The gallery is geographically located in Cape Town but it imbibes and holds the connection with all the 54 states of Africa.
Hanging Piece by Kendell Geers
Initially, when the artworks were taken in, the project claimed it to be in perpetuity. Later it turned into being a long-term loan. Being the only art institution in the world to document and showcase only African Artwork and modern life, this Zeitz-Mocaa plays an important role in letting the Africans tell out their story. Having a lot of space on their walls to fill, the gallery is solely dependent on the goodwill of the donors and young artists. According to assistant photography curator Gcotyelwa Mashiqa the gallery is hoping to bring back many paintings, sculptures, and photographs that belong and have been taken out of Africa that deserve to be shown here. Local gallery owners and artists find the introduction of this world-class contemporary art museum is all set to bring all the African aspect to the forefront. This has brought many international art curators to South Africa even before the gallery has opened fully making them know just how Eurocentric their collections are.
One week before its launch the social events and spectacles surrounding the preview of this astounding gallery was about to shadow all the the art on display. An exclusive bash was organized by the house of Gucci. In one of the gallery, a white cube adorned with human forms made from cowhide known as Emabutfo by Swazi-born Nandipha Mntambo made for a Selfie backdrop. The buzz around the opening of the gallery was great and received a lot of response. A huge number of free passes were given online and more tickets at the door.
Flying Dragon by South African Artist Nicholas Hlobo
On, entering the gallery the visitors will be welcomed by a giant rubber flying dragon created by South African Artist Nicholas Hlobo. One of the greatest collection the gallery holds is of the world of Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui. He is a renowned artist who received the Praemium Imperiale International Arts Awards this year whose collection involves an exclusive intriguing piece known as the “Dissolving Continents” made by interlinking pieces of aluminum and copper. The gallery also has Kendell Geers’ Hanging Piece that is a tribute to acts of violence carried out during apartheid in South Africa.
Emabutfo by Swazi-born Nandipha Mntambo
The critics of Art find collections of esteemed and famous African artists are missing from the collections. Works of Cameroonians Samuel Fosso, Pascale Martine Tayou and Barthélémy Toguo, as well as South Africans Robin Rhode, Tracey Rose and Berni Searle were not present voicing a few negative comments from the critics.
Zeitz Mocaa- Cape Town’s biggest Art Museum
Apart from the premium collection at the gallery, it has a photography center and center of moving art and images. The gallery has promised a fully dedicated art programme and education center with a costume institute and a curatorial training programme by 2018. The gallery is open for local visitors as well. Public transport stop has been provided for local and tourist buses. The gallery is also free for African citizens and on all Wednesday’s and every day for visitors below 18 years of age.
Majority of the South Africans were excluded from visiting and showcasing their works in museums and art fair globally. Thus this phenomenal gallery will definitely be a super hit and win the African crowd because they will be seeing themselves being represented by their own artist.
What do you think?