Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art

It poured with rain all night, and the forecast for today wasn’t too clever, but we decided to venture out anyway. It wasn’t cold – just very cloudy and drizzly. We walked down to the waterfront and revisited the exhibition at the Nelson Mandela Gateway, which we didn’t have time to look around when we went to Robben Island the other day. It was very interesting. We learnt a lot more about the life of Robert Sobukwe, whose story we heard on the island.

From the exhibition, we walked through to the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA). The museum is located in the Grain Silo Complex, which also includes a hotel, a shopping centre, and a number of restaurants. At one time, the original building was the second-tallest building on the continent of Africa, second only to the Great Pyramid in Egypt. It consisted of forty-two 33-metre high concrete tubes, each with a diameter of 5.5 metres. Internationally acclaimed designer Thomas Heatherwick and his innovative team of architects were given the task of reimagining the building. Their brief was to pay tribute to the original industrial design while creating an inspirational exhibition space suitable to house the most significant collection of art from Africa and its diaspora that had ever been seen. No mean feat!

But, this is exactly what has been achieved!! The first impression when you enter the building is jaw-dropping! Visitors can clearly see the history of the building, at the same time appreciating the space as a backdrop for the art on display. To me, it had the same feel as the repurposed Battersea Power Station we visited recently.Read more