visitingkvg:Image by myself, sunrise 15.09.as seen on nataal.com this weekA Giant is BornIn what has
visitingkvg:Image by myself, sunrise 15.09.as seen on nataal.com this weekA Giant is BornIn what has been described as a turning point for thehistory of art in Africa, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (ZeitzMOCAA) will open its doors on Friday 22 September at Cape Town’s V&AWaterfront. This is the world’s largest not-for-profit museum of contemporaryAfrican art and the first of its kind to be established on the continent. Designedby celebrated British architect Thomas Heatherwick, the space is anextraordinary restoration of what once was a derelict grain silo. There arenine floors and over 100 galleries, including a cathedral-like atrium on theground floor and a sculpture garden at the very top. Travelling up through the cellularstructures, visitors are invited to explore this 102,000 square foot space andits numerous exhibitions focused on cutting edge work from Africa and thediaspora created in the 21st century. Imagining a one-of-a-kind museum of this scale is no smallfeat for any team, particularly as it aimed to veer from traditional museumblueprints towards creating a model of its own. Chief curator and executivedirector of Zeitz MOCAA, artist and writer Mark Coetzee, explained at theopening press conference that, “we are defining African-ness loosely. In doingso, this museum has set up spaces that will act autonomously from one another sothat curators are able to create exhibitions with focused themes and work with bothtemporary and permanent collections.” The permanent collection houses seminalworks that intend to guide growing and dominant discourses, particularly aroundidentity, decolonialism and politics, and will continuously grow in volume aspart of a grand archive. There are 12 opening exhibitions curated by a team of in-houseand at-large curators, running for three to six months spanning fashion,photography (Roger Ballen Foundation Centre for Photography), the moving imageand performing arts. One of the opening shows in the temporary exhibitiongallery is a show titled ‘Regarding the Ease of Others’ (22 September2017 - 31 March 2018). The show is an early careerretrospective of political artist, Kudzanai Chiurai (Zimbabwe), curated by AzuNwagbogu (Nigeria), Curator at Large for Zeitz MoCAA and founder of the LagosFilm Festival, with the help of two assistant curators, Gcotyelwa Mashiqa (South Africa) and Bafana Zembe (SouthAfrica). The show is a retrospective of a chosen medium, photography, whichNwagbogu believes has defined Chiurai as an artist, touching on themes ofconflict resolution, decolonisation and political motives. Showing for just under a year in the sculpturegarden is a show titled ‘Now andThen: El Loko/Kyle Morland’ (22 September 2017 - 27 August 2018) curated byMarijke Tymbios (South Africa). The title speaks to an intergenerationaldialogue between old and young artists and juxtaposes the two together,speaking to linear artistic progression. Allacross the upper level floor are 9 laminated glass discs is ‘UniversalAlphabet’ by El Loko (Togo), who has since passed, juxtaposed with thispatterned and textile-like vinyled surface are Kyle Morland’s (South Africa)abstract metal sculptures, which play with scale and shape. Zeitz MOCAA also houses educational centres for visitingscholars and a centre for curatorial studies, which allows for hundreds offuture curators from Africa and the diaspora to move through an annual programme.With the combined efforts of the curators, these centres will be showingexhibitions that reflect art happening “right now” in Africa, Mark Coetzeesays. Being the first of its kind, this museum has set itsintention to host and serve its community and it is with this in mind, theimportant issues of access and representation have been raised by many observersof the rising giant. For example, there has been criticism that the museum isn’tmore centrally positioned within the continent - rather than its most southerlytip. In addressing this, the core thinkers behind the space, David Green (CEOof the V&A Waterfront), Thomas Heatherwick, Mark Coetzee and Jochen Zeitz(owner and donor of The Zeitz Collection, which forms the foundation of themuseum’s collection), explained that the museum came about partly by theavailability of a vacant historical building and partly because a collection ofexceptional African artwork needed a worthy home. Heatherwick said that ratherthan asking “Where to place a museum?” the project grew out of the need to fillthe building with something of public significance. Furthermore, with the inequality around urban planningissues that Cape Town faces, transportation to the tourist and commerce-driven areaof town in which the museum is located is a concern. It is both a matter ofperception and practicality that troubles many South Africans, who remainsubject to implicit and explicit levels of inequality and exclusion. It is withhope and perseverance for intellectual inclusivity and change that SouthAfrican artist Thania Petersen says, “Access can only be changed by actuallychanging it – same with the issue of Cape Town. And we’re changing it by being here.” The V&A has promised thatpublic transport to the museum will be improved for the general public. The opening exhibition in the permanent galleries is entitled‘All Things Being Equal’. There are 41artists participating in the show, including works by Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou, Roger Ballen, Kendell Geers,Nicholas Hlobo, William Kentridge, Mohau Modisakeng, Mary Sibande, Penny Siopisand Kehinde Wiley. The show urges viewers to make up their own mindsregarding the issue of representation. ‘All Things Being Equal’ will run from 22 September 2017 - 19 February 2018. With avision of the museum’s future and its crucial role in the creation of dialoguearound artwork, its curation and its education, it is with great hope thatinformation flows in and out of the museum in such a way that the conversationsemerging are communicated far and wide, beyond the scope of the museum itself. Urginginterrogation and the importance of the space, RoseLee Goldberg, Curator atLarge of Performative Practice and art historian, says “We’re witnessing anextraordinary revolution today. The art world is an extremely permissible placeand artists are supposed to be difficult. Art is to be unruly and acceleratepolitics.” Given these big questions, there is hope that the museum will serveas a catalyst to stir and engage artistic and political discussion. As SouthAfrican artist Athi Patra-Ruga says, this kind of museum serves to create a“vernacular that doesn’t need external validation” and it is with thissentiment that the history of African art will reflect on and create itself. -- source link