As the most visited site in Africa, with over 24 million visitors annually, the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa is the perfect venue to share the cultural artifacts and ideas of Africa with the world.
Africa’s First Major Museum of Contemporary Art
The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), to be housed in the historic Grain Silo at the V&A Waterfront, is set to welcome its first visitors at the end of 2016.
The V&A is committing over R500-million to the development required for the establishment of the Museum. Built in 1921, and at 57m tall, the Grain Silo remains an icon of the Cape Town skyline. This investment will further the development of art in Africa and acknowledges the important cultural and financial contribution the visual arts sector makes.
Zeitz MOCAA, a new not-for-profit institution, is considered by many to be the leading collection of contemporary art from Africa and its Diaspora, Jochen Zeitz will commit his collection in perpetuity, underwrite the running costs of the Museum and provide a substantial acquisition budget to allow the Museum to acquire new important artworks over time to remain on the edge of contemporary cultural production.
Zeitz MOCAA will comprise over 9,500 square meters (102,000 square feet) placing it among leading contemporary art museums worldwide. Zeitz MOCAA will be spread over nine floors, of which 6,000 square meters (65,000 square feet) will be dedicated to exhibition space. Through an entire floor dedicated to education, the museum will develop a new art-loving, museum-going audience.
Until the extensive renovations to the Silo complex are complete, selections from the Zeitz Collection will be presented at Zeitz MOCAA Pavilion, a museum-quality temporary exhibition space at the V&A Waterfront.
A recently released independent Economic Impact study done on the V&A Waterfront clearly shows the impact the V&A Waterfront has had on the City, the Province and the country. Zeitz MOCAA brings another dimension – a cultural facility of global significance that provides both an intellectual and cultural focus point.
V&A Waterfront’s Craft Market
The R50 million reimagining of the V&A Waterfront’s existing Blue Shed and Craft Market is as much a drastic external renovation as it is an evolution of product offering and range. Well-established as an enterprise development platform, with traders traditionally offering wares from leather goods to African curios, a dynamic shift will see the focus broaden to craft and design, as well as the renaming of the space.
In the spirit of change, the new space will be renamed to signify the change of course. The Watershed, as it will be named, is the platform on which the V&A Waterfront’s enterprise development is built and the entrepreneurial spirit of the African experience is grown.
The Watershed will be positioned as a talent incubator, giving tenants exposure to the millions of local and international visitors the Waterfront welcomes on an annual basis. It is also an ideal platform to showcase South African and African creativity, launching in a pivotal year for our design industry, Cape Town World Design Capital 2014.
About the V&A Waterfront
The V&A Waterfront is a 123 hectare mixed-use destination, and one of Africa’s most visited cultural and historical hubs. Set on the edge of a natural, historic working harbour with the iconic Table Mountain as its backdrop, it offers local and international visitors a cosmopolitan mix of experiences ranging from leisure, shopping and exclusive entertainment. It also offers prime residential and commercial property. The prime positioning of the V&A boasts sweeping views of the ocean, city bowl and mountain peaks. Up to 100 000 people visit every day during peak season.
Contributing R198 billion to the South African economy over the last ten years, the V&A Waterfront’s cumulative contribution to the provincial GGP since 2002 was over R173bn. Of the total visitors to the V&A, 55% are Capetonians, 19% are South African and 26% are international.
With 22 official landmarks on-site, it is also part of South Africa’s historical legacy. Jointly owned by Growthpoint Properties Limited and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), represented by the Public Investment Corporation Limited (PIC), the V&A Waterfront was developed in 1988 by the state-owned transport corporation, Transnet Limited, while commercial trading commenced in 1990.
For more information, visit www.waterfront.co.za
