Opening on September 22, 2017, Cape Town's Zeitz MOCAA is set to become Africa's most important cultural attraction. Established through a partnership between the V&A Waterfront and former Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art will showcase diverse modern art from throughout the continent; it is the first major museum of its kind in all of Africa. (Guests who want to admire the ongoing development of this attraction up close can already stay at Cape Town's Silo Hotel, which stands atop some of the complex).
Here the museum's director Mark Coetzee details what visitors can expect to encounter when the doors to one of the world's most anticipated museums finally open.
How should first-time visitors structure their visit?
I would suggest buying a ticket online to skip the queues at the entrance, and to arrive at around 11:30am so you could have an hour and a half in the galleries before taking a leisurely lunch in the museum restaurant. It’s up on the roof and offers Cape Town’s best views of Table Mountain - be sure to book a window seat to best enjoy Heatherwick Studio’s faceted glass façade.
I would then return to the galleries for another hour or two. Pace yourself: there are nine floors, seven filled with art. Besides the changing exhibitions, there are six institutes within the museum focusing on performance, costume, curatorial studies and so on. Check the daily schedule online for time-based activities or events. Watching a performance piece in the towering atrium is mesmerising.
What should visitors ensure they see?
In our permanent collection, Isaac Julien’s nine-screen projection Ten Thousand Waves is an astonishing experience. Don’t miss Chris Ofili’s blue painting or Nicolas Hlobo’s sculpture Dragon. El Loko’s installation of nine massive etched glass discs on the floor of our elevated sculpture garden are vertigo-inducing; you almost believe they could shatter from your weight and drop you 33 metres into the museum atrium below.
Image: A rendering of the museum's interior. Credit: Heatherwick Studio