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Visiting the Cape of South Africa is wonderful. The sun. The sand. The safari animals. The spectacular Table Mountain that overlooks Cape Town itself. And now it’s the hottest destination for art lovers of the world too. Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art opened in September 2017 and it’s a game changer.

The museum, seen from the outside here, is a converted grain silo. Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

Zeitz-Mocaa is Africa’s first major museum dedicated to contemporary African art, and is packed full of some of the best pieces of art from across the continent. The project is more than a showcase of spectacular art - it represents a more profound act of giving African artists a voice. For executive director and chief curator Mark Coetzee, the museum is a “platform for Africans to tell their own story and participate in the telling of that story”.

Inside the museum. Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

Built on the back of famed businessman and philanthropist Zeitz’s personal collection (widely considered to be the leading collection of contemporary African art in the world) it houses nine floors and over 100 galleries of artworks.

Visitors admiring the museum's extraordinary interior. Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

The building itself is an impressive feat of design. It’s a re-interpretation of an old silo by British Architect Thomas Heatherwick, which gives you the chance to imagine what the journey of a single seed through the structure might have been like, and takes the shape of a husk into the carved out center of the fantastic building.

The museum with Lion's Head in the background. Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

There is truly ground-breaking work at every corner in Zeitz MOCAA. Here are some top pieces to look out for:

1. Kudzanai Chiurai

Chiurai’s mixed media work, videos and stills, spread over four rooms on the second floor extend an indulgent, hyper-real invitation into his fictional worlds.

Still from Iyeza (2014) by Kudzanai Chiurai.

Inspired by Banksy's street works, but reflective also of Basquiat’s use of animal imagery, writing and incorporation of anatomical drawings, Chiurai’s mixed media work including True Believer (2005) and series The Invention of Africa (2017) draw you in and invite you to stand a look deeply.

The Invention of Africa I (2017) by Kudzanai Chiurai.

2. Zanele Muholi

Muholi’s series of Faces and Phases showcases LGBTQI+ people from South Africa. Hung with frames touching each other, the life size portraits make this intimate self-contained exhibition feel like standing in a room full of welcoming strangers.

Phila I, Parktown (2016) by Zanele Muholi.

Meet their eyes. Consider their stories. Admire the striking simplicity and power of Muholi’s photographs (and go away wishing you took pictures quite this good).

Bona Charlottesville (2015) by Zanele Muholi.

3. Michele Mathison

Mathison’s work Harvest (2013) was created for the 55th Venice Biennale and curated into the Zimbabwe Pavillion’s Dudziro exhibition. A grouping of blanched ceramic corn husks, hollowed on the inside, sit in a pile; almost discarded on the floor. Nourishing food, made of indible ceramic. Wholesome corn, hollow and empty inside. 

Chibage (2013) by Michele Mathison.

Around are what appear to be carbonised stumps of wood - but these too are merely hollow acrylic resin and charcoal composites. A commentary on famine, hunger, but also hollow administration and empty political promises of plenty and industrialisation, this work is a must see.

View of the museum from the front. Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

Don't miss out on Zeitz-Mocaa if: You’re interested in new and upcoming art from Africa

Look out for: Kudzanai Chiurai and Zanele Muholi

Indulge by: Staying in the hotel on top of MOCAA and popping down for art before breakfast

Make sure you’re ahead of the curve by visiting next time you’re in Cape Town.

John Quilter wears a number of exciting hats. He’s an entrepreneur, broadcaster and chef. The Food Busker, as he’s known to his 170k YouTube fans, showcases the best global street food in London. John also co-founded and runs CRU Kafe, a food-tech startup that makes organic, fairtrade coffee.

CRU founders (from left) Colin Pyle, Bodil Blain and John Quilter.

It’s not just beans that go into CRU coffee pods; creativity and passion are key ingredients in the roast. John’s creative juices also extend to art - he and his wife collect pieces by Chairman Kato and Antony Micallef. The Food Busker himself gives us the low-down on creativity and curation.

Pic: Instagrammer @anordicmoment, via @crukafe.

What role does creativity play in your life and work?

It’s at the centre of everything I do, be it making films, helping to develop the CRU brand or cooking and writing. Creativity is the default setting of every human being, practising it is the key to a healthy, peaceful, rewarding life.

Street art in Bogotá. Pic taken by John and Oliver on their coffee hunting travels in Colombia.

Lucie Bennett makes silkscreen prints and paintings on aluminium that explore the female form in all its curvaceous glory. Sometimes her figures pop out immediately, and other times it takes some searching to find them amongst the lines and bends. She’s been featured on the BBC's Culture Show and has exhibited at the likes of the Royal Academy and the Barbican. Her work is also held in the private collections of the Groucho Club and Virgin. So what is it that Lucie is trying to say about female identity? And what makes her body works so popular?

Lucie in her studio with Mallow and Golden Bud.

When did you know you wanted to become an artist?

I always loved drawing and drew women from a very young age.  Living in Asia when I was a child inspired my sense of colour - I loved all the unusual plants and the bright textiles people wore. I was also drawn to the freedom that an artist has.

Mallow by Lucie Bennett.

What messages are you trying to get across about female identity in your work?

The work I like to make I see as being strong, female and beautiful - yes, we can be all of these things at the same time.  I was inspired by female artists Cindy Sherman, Helen Chadwick and Frida Kahlo whilst at art school, all of whom used their own bodies in their work to great, evocative effect.  

Aqua and Coral by Lucie Bennett.

I think the female body is really beautiful, the curves, shapes and tangled lines you get drawing it. I'm also interested in the negative space the body creates, the areas around the body. I've often incorporated organic, plant shapes into my compositions which work well with the body and accentuate its sensuality.  

Tearose and Shangrila Silk by Lucie Bennett.

In some of my work you don't see the body straight away and I like this sense of discovery, and recognising the similarities between our bodies and many other organic shapes.

Tell us about your two new prints on Rise Art.

Ipanema and Honey Island prints are bright, fun and sassy. I wanted to create two new bold prints to celebrate the start of Spring. They are a pair but also work separately. The titles of the works are taken from names of beautiful, well known Brazilian beaches.  

 

Ipanema by Lucie Bennett.

 

On Brazilian beaches, the butt is celebrated almost to the point of reverence which makes sense to me. I've used strong, fun, joyful colours for these kick-ass females, and I chose to go classic Lucie Bennett figurative style for the new limited edition prints.

 

Honey Island by Lucie Bennett.

 

Can you tell us about your method(s)?

I've always been interested in exploring different materials, to give the subject matter of the female body some interesting and varied texture.  As well as producing screen prints, I make paintings using gloss paint on aluminium panels, which have a fantastic, lacquered finish.

 

Botanial Buttercup up in Lucie's studio.

 

I like to make smaller works too - cut card collages, often using pieces of aluminium. I have made a series of neon light sculptures based on 50s style cartoon pin up girls, which was really fun, and worked with coloured acrylic plastics making laser cut objects depicting the female body (see Tutti Frutti).  I always start by choosing a drawing which I can visualise being developed into something else, something more significant, more solid.

 

 

What do you love about your studio?

The friendly mice! My studio is a classic artist's' garret - a converted warehouse which is pretty cold and leaky in the winter but it houses a great hub of artists which is a bonus for an artist who spends most of their time holed up in their own studio.  It's been great to have a community to share information, resources, tools and biscuits with.

 

Lucie working on Coral in her studio.

 

Browse Lucie's Works >>