New York has the MoMA . London has the Tate Modern . And now , Quartz reports , Cape Town , South Africa , is home to the continent ’s largest contemporary art museum , the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa ( MOCAA ) , which opened its door to the public on September 22 .
The MOCAA is domiciliate inside an old grain silo complex that ’s been convert into a sleek , nine - floor attraction . Located in the city ’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront , the refurbished edifice provide visitors with panorama of the Atlantic Ocean when they are n’t busy perusing more than 100 gallery filled with works created by twenty-first century African and diaspora artists .
Many of the artwork on display are on loan from the individual collections of the museum ’s namesake , former PUMA CEO Jochen Zeitz . The complex also hold back six inquiry centers , performance spaces , a curatorial grooming program , and a rooftop garden , in addition to a dress shop hotel on the top floor .
While architecturally stunning , not everyone has embraced the MOCAA with open arms , as some indicate that it does n’t adequately represent Africans . For one , the museum is nominate for a German sportswear mogul instead of an African strawman . Its location in Cape Town has also proven to be disputatious , with some say that lingering dogmatism against black resident makes the urban center a forged testing dry land for a pan - African initiative .
And , asSmithsonianpoints out , the museum ’s top brass section are white men , while nearly 80 pct of South Africa ’s residents identify as black . Many of these locals in all probability also ca n’t launch the museum ’s standard $ 13.50 admission fee , although the MOCAA does offer free entry on Midweek to South Africans and other African citizens .
These contention aside , gallerists , curators , and artist involve with the museum are hopeful that the new asylum will shed much - need sparkle on Africa ’s many talented contemporary artist , and serve to unite — not divide — Africans .
“ We are all very emotional about it , of class , ” reflect famed Nigerian curator Bisi Silva , grant to Artsy , “ but what we do by all odds want to see is that it reaches out across the continent , and that ’s something that ’s sometimes not as easy from South Africa . I think that is going to be very important . ”
[ h / tQuartz ]
