Groundbreaking Exhibitions To See At Zeitz MOCAA This Year

The Zeitz MOCAA museum in Cape Town has been widely lauded as one of the best contemporary art museums to open in recent years. Though the physical building and permanent displays are in themselves worth a visit, here are some exhibitions that are also worth bookmarking for later in the year.

Mary Sibande: In the Midst of Chaos, There is Opportunity

South African Mary Sibande’s beautiful life-size sculptures form part of the powerful installation In the Midst of Chaos, There is Opportunity. It’s an impactful exhibition that shows women in combat, modelled on the artist’s mother, a domestic worker in South Africa, riding toy horses and seen amongst blood-red canines and vultures. The work is on loan from the artist and Gallery MOMO.

Banele Khoza: LGBTQI+

Artist Banele Khoza’s new exhibition, LGBTQI+, details complex issues relating to masculinity and sexuality with almost ethereal acrylic artworks. They depict colourful portraits of the naked man in mostly blue and pink. These ghostly figures reveal ‘a sense of the uninhibited’, and occupy the Curatorial Lab on Level One of the museum. The temporary exhibition runs from April 11 to September 16, 2018.

Kendall Geers: Hanging Piece

Kendell Greer’s Hanging Piece is an eery, eye-catching installation consisting of an entire room filled with bricks hanging from bright-red ropes, tied noose-style, from the ceiling. The unsettling calm in the room is courtesy of the multiple levels, various shifting focal points and the gentle sway of the lifeless objects.

William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance

Legendary South African artist William Kentridge has contributed a musical masterpiece to the Zeitz MOCAA entitled More Sweetly Play The Dance. This multi-channel video installation consists of a profound video composition set to a powerful musical performance projected onto several screens, as well as wooden chairs and vintage megaphones. It’s an arresting installation that runs on a loop every for 15 minutes.

Roger Ballen: Nostalgia

American Roger Ballan has donated his entire collection to Zeitz MOCAA, and his iconic works are set to show up throughout the museum. His Nostalgia installation, consisting of large prints dating back to 2010, is particularly worth seeking out.

Glenn Ligon: Runaways

New Yorker Glenn Ligon’s series of lithographs Runaways began with an examination into the life of Henry ‘Box’ Brown, a slave who fled captivity in the mid-1800s. Slave owners would issue handbills detailing escaped slaves, and a small selection of these, reimagined by Ligon and on show at the Zeitz MOCAA, are a powerful reminder of our recent history.

Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves

This immersive film installation consists of nine double-sided screens arranged in a large room in the museum. Each shows a different angle of the same narrative, which deals with issues relating to contemporary and ancient China. Visitors are transported into the heart of the film as they walk among the projections that come and go throughout, creating a dreamlike escape from reality.

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