Home Is Where The Art Is
The Zeitz MOCAA (Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) is a contemporary art museum located at the V&A Waterfront, on the banks of Table Bay overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world.
Besides showcasing incredible art, the Zeitz MOCAA building itself is a work of art! This magnificent building with its beautiful stairwells, together with the honour of being part of the “Home Is Where The Art Is” exhibition, that is currently still on show until the end October 2021, inspired me to create this image that I felt fitting to title after the exhibition itself…
The museum is housed in an important historical landmark—the old 57m tall grain silo at the V&A Waterfront that was decommissioned in 2001. The silos were built in 1921, and for the better part of a century, they were the industrial heart of the harbour area. They were also the tallest buildings in Africa for a long time. The original structure was comprised of 56 storage silos and an adjacent elevator building, and was made a heritage site. The architects working on the museum were tasked with designing a building that would pay homage to this important historical landmark, leaving the outside largely as it was. The interior of the building is indeed astounding. It is carved out in the shape of an enlarged grain of corn (based on an actual kernel found before construction began). The result is a series of curved concrete lines, with light pouring in through the cylindrical silo structures, giving visitors a cross-section view of the inner workings of the old industrial structure. The museum opened on 22 September 2017. The exhibition space covers 6,000 square meters over nine floors, with 100 gallery spaces.
Before and after...
I hope you enjoy this short before and after progression video. As per usual, if you have any questions (about my process, the editing, or anything really), then please send me a message and I will assist.
As you can see from the before and after progression video, I created my image as a composite, i.e. I photographed myself as a self-portrait in my studio and then composited myself onto one of my photographs of the stairwell, blending the photographs together in Photoshop. However, my friend Mike who recently visited the Zeitz MOCAA with me, did lie on the floor at the bottom of the stairwell for a few photographs. This reference made it much easier for me to recreate the lighting and shadows for my image.
Being part of an exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA is without a doubt a massive dream come true!
A love letter to art, artists and our city, Cape Town.
After a closure of more than seven months during South Africa’s hard lockdown due to Covid, Zeitz MOCAA reopened in October 2020 with an unprecedented, democratic celebration of art belonging to and made by the people of Cape Town. Assembled through an open submission process, this group exhibition of more than 2,000 artworks includes the art of children, professional and amateur artists, collectors, and others from across the city of Cape Town.
As someone who has curated, hung and hosted many exhibitions, I have a fraction of the understanding of the mammoth effort and logistics behind putting together an exhibition of this size and complexity.
The exhibition is beautifully hung and so cleverly hung according to five themes, each encompassing literal and metaphoric interpretations:
The Garden explores the life of plants, growth, cultivation, and labour.
Outside encompasses landscape and public space.
Inside includes interiors, domestic space and inner psychological states.
Time notes the passage and marking of time as well as abstract expressions.
Relations celebrates interconnectedness, relationships and communities.
Visiting my artwork "Emotional Rush" at the "Home Is Where The Art Is" exhibition earlier this year. It was rather cool to find out that I was the 20th person to submit my artwork to the exhibition out of over 2000 people submitting :)
Framed 400x400 limited edition fine art photographic print,
printed in Hahnemuhle German Etching paper.
Some snaps from my various visits to the
Zeitz MOCAA this year...
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