I Visited Zeitz MOCAA and It Changed Me

Not long ago, I blogged about places in Cape Town I still needed to visit. When I wrote it, it was just kind of whimsical. Like…”Flip, it would be nice if some day, somehow I got to do these awesome things the next time I’m in Cape Town.” Then, last week, I did one of them! And, it was great that I’d written the blog because, the whole time I was doing the thing, I was thinking about how I was doing it when I’d blogged about it. It was full circle. True appreciation. It was a bit of an Oprah moment for me. And no one loves Oprah like I do. Oprah should come to the Zeitz MOCAA.

So, a sad situation had me motoring through to Cape Town last week for a few days. On the Wednesday, I had a few hours to kill. Imagine my complete elation, the unadulterated thrill that I felt when I heard that Zeitz MOCAA allows African visitors to visit for free on Wednesdays! It was my day! It was really happening. To be honest, I would’ve paid the entrance fee of R190 anyway, because I really wanted to see this. But, I mean, if I didn’t HAVE to…

So, the thing that got me the most excited was that this was built in an old grain silo that had been converted. But, it’s beyond explanation. It hasn’t just been converted…it’s been changed. It’s modern, eerie, cool, and just different to anything I’ve seen or anywhere I’ve been. The space is beautiful. It’s breath-taking, really. And it’s so humbling. I felt so small. But, at the same time, I felt like I was part of the workings of something so special. Hard to explain, really.

The exhibits range from modern to classic, from absolutely weird, to absolutely exquisite; and everything in-between. There’s a restaurant at the top, which has awesome views of the City Bowl and dishes that sounded really delicious. But, I was too excited to see the exhibits; I’ll have to go back some time to sample the goods. There’s also a little shop on the ground floor. Here, you can find some of the artwork, as well as unique arts and crafts – really beautiful stuff. I guess, if you’re paying in dollars, pounds and euros, it’s affordable. The rand values were a bit steep for me, but it’s a tourist spot. And I hadn’t factored a trip to CT into my budget, so I wasn’t ready.

Rather than try to explain the experience in words, I’ll share a bit of the beauty of the Zeitz MOCAA exhibits with you (but, please know that I just can’t capture the magic on an iPhone camera. It’s an experience):

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Ja nee kyk. This is a sculpture made entirely of acrylic nails to impart a message about the monstrous beast that the beauty industry has become. I kind of like the beauty industry.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
I can’t even share how amazing this exhibit was. Screens were positioned around the room while this video of African folk carrying different things moved around you. They carried the faces of political figures, musical instruments that told a story about their culture and heritage, drips carrying religious symbols to speak of the influence of religion on politics…and so much more. Just wow.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
An African photographer was his own subject.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Me if I was a statue. I just love bling.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Some super-cool graffiti.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Rooms of the Ballenesque. This was an eerie display that was full of surprises. My heart jumped out of my chest more than once.

 

Zeitz MOCAA
View of the central part of the gallery from the staircase.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
I loved how big these black-and-white photos were. I made a stranger take a picture of me just for scale because I’m 178cm tall.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Just a guy looking fabulous.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
The slaves head for their ship. This would be a coffin for many of them.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
This really touched me. These are the slave owners’ descriptions of their slaves that had escaped. On the one hand, it gives you an idea of how the white farm owners described (and viewed) the black slaves that worked for them. It is sometimes sad, sometimes heart-warming. On the other, it gave the other slaves hope – one of them had escaped and was on the other side. Just incredible.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
One of the descriptions. Why, oh why can I NOT flip these things? I know how the flippy thing works. I do it and save it and update it. But nooooooooooooo.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Eeek, the stairway that winds down one of the silos. I held my phone over the gap for the photos – thank goodness for my orangutan arms.

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
Toy soldiers

 

The cool diamondy windows <3

 

Zeitz MOCAA exhibits
A photograph of a zebra carrying balloons with legs. As you do.

 

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. 16th Sep 2018
    Reply

    Looks interesting. That woman with the long knitting is a bit freaky.
    By the way you can flip from wordpress by editing the actual picture, it does give you the option. 🙂

    • 17th Sep 2018
      Reply

      I’ve tried. Then, it reflects properly in the preview; but, when I publish the post, it goes back to being incorrect. I’ve played around quite a bit. Now, I need to choose between an upright picture and upping my sanity meds. Haha.

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