Zeitz MOCAA

Africa's largest contemporary art museum, in a sculpted grain silo

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa opened in 2017 in a sensationally repurposed grain silo on the V&A Waterfront. The architecture alone is worth the visit: Heatherwick Studio carved an atrium out of the bundled concrete silos, glazed the top, and left the cross-sections of the original tubes visible all the way up — the most photographed museum interior in the country.

The collection focuses on contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, with strong holdings of work by Kentridge, Mohau Modisakeng, Athi-Patra Ruga, Wangechi Mutu and others. The galleries spiral up nine floors and the rooftop has a sculpture garden and one of the best views in the city. Tickets are pricey by Cape Town standards but worth it.

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A story
The grain silo at the V&A Waterfront was a forty-metre concrete tower of unusable storage tubes until British architect Thomas Heatherwick carved out an atrium by hollowing the silos into a glass-roofed cathedral. The 2017 conversion turned the largest concrete grain silo in the southern hemisphere into the largest contemporary art museum in Africa.