Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
Cape Town · South Africa · Founded 2017
Africa's largest museum of contemporary art, housed in a sculpturally carved historic grain silo on Cape Town's V&A Waterfront.
300,000
Annual Visitors
1,500+ works
Collection
2 hours
Recommended Visit
Thomas Heatherwick (2017) — conversion of a grain silo
Architect
About Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a contemporary art museum located in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. The museum opened on 22 September 2017 and is the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world.
The non-profit institution is housed in a converted grain silo that was once the tallest building in sub-Saharan Africa. The conversion was designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, who carved out an atrium from the existing 42 silo tubes to create the museum's dramatic central space.
The museum focuses exclusively on contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora since the year 2000, providing a permanent home for collecting, preserving, and exhibiting cutting-edge contemporary art.
Across nine floors and 100 galleries it presents work by leading artists including Kudzanai Chiurai, William Kentridge, Athi-Patra Ruga, Nicholas Hlobo, and Zanele Muholi, alongside dedicated centres for photography, the moving image, performative practice, costume, and art education.
Masterworks & Must-See Highlights
The works that define Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa — and why they matter.
Tumelo (series)
Zanele Muholi · 2010s
Rotating galleries
South African visual activist Muholi's large-scale black-and-white portraits document and celebrate queer and transgender Black South African lives. The work is both art and archive — a counter-history to invisibility.
Four Wrapped Rhino Horns
Ndidi Dike · 2010
Contemporary African Art galleries
A commentary on the illegal trade in rhino horn — four horns wrapped in cloth, their brutal commercial value hidden inside ordinary packaging. A characteristic piece from the Zeitz collection's emphasis on politically engaged contemporary African art.
Collections & Highlights
Frequently Asked Questions
A small ask before you go
You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.
Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.