THE HOME “Zeitz, together with Mark Coetzee, the director of the MOCAA, started one of the largest modern art collections on the continent only nine years ago, buying thousands of works of art, sometimes entire exhibitions.” TM | JULY/AUGUST <strong>2018</strong> 42
THE HOME The enormous but forgotten cereal silo in the heart of Cape Town’s harbour was once hailed as Sub-Saharan Africa’s tallest building. But it has risen from its figurative ashes over the past four years, and the gigantic 116 cement silos, whose contents once fed thousands of people, have been redesigned for a different purpose - art. The star British architect Thomas Heatherwick chose to gut the entire building, while also designing the atrium to resemble the inside of a wheat kernel. The museum itself, as well as rooms dedicated to performances and cultural education, is housed on 9,500 square metres. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is Africa’s long overdue answer to New York’s MoMA or London’s Tate Modern and the international art scene eagerly awaited its inauguration on September 22, 2017. ART AND BUSINESS “ The role of art collector does not actually quite suit me,” says Zeitz. Instead, his eye for gaps in the market, be it in business or art, better explains his current project. A growing cultural scene in Cape Town over the last few years has often resulted in some of the best art being exported to the Biennales and museums in Europe or the U.S. “ We finally want to make it possible for the art to be available here,” he says. Zeitz, together with Mark Coetzee, the director of the MOCAA, started one of the largest modern art collections on the continent only nine years ago, buying thousands of works of art, sometimes entire exhibitions. Most of the art works were stored in a depot, as they made plans for the future. “ From the very beginning, the purpose was to find a central home for the collection,” says Zeitz. Criticism regarding this wholesale approach was, of course, unavoidable. The art critique Matthew Blackman wrote in 2015 that a museum for African art, furnished by a German collector, designed by a British architect and led by a white South African director does not really have much to do with South Africa any longer. Zeitz doesn’t dispute the spirit of such criticism but highlights the many positive real-life reactions to the museum, particular from artists themselves. The collection will be available to the museum for the duration of his lifetime or until 2037, whichever comes first. In addition to this, Zeitz also funds the museum’s educational programmes and new acquisitions, which has earned him the respect of the African art scene. Coetzee is visibly proud of the work put 43 JULY/AUGUST <strong>2018</strong> | TM