Today, Cape Town in South Africa inaugurated the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), the world’s biggest African contemporary art museum. The infrastructure emerged from a partnership between V & A Waterfront and famous German collector, Jochen Zeitz (picture). 

The location of the building perfectly fits the goal set by the Zeitz MOCAA to become the African equivalent of New York’s MoMA or London’s Tate Modern. Indeed, the waterfront is South Africa’s most visited destination and would surely boost the number of visits to the museum by tourists. 

The museum was much anticipated in Africa and could weigh significantly in the debate on the restitution of African art pieces to the continent. “Having a world-class museum in Africa has always been much anticipated,” says Touria El Glaoui, founder of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. “So far, African art works necessarily had to be sent to other continents, in international museums, for visibility and credibility sakes”, among others.  

For now, it appears that only Jochen Zeitz has lent his collection to the museum, this for an indefinite period. 

However, an acquisition fund was set to raise the necessary funds to secure a permanent collection. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo