Zeitz MOCAA

What to expect at Zeitz MOCAA

Zeitz MOCAA opened in September 2017 in the Grain Silo Complex at the V&A Waterfront, a concrete structure built in 1921 that was for decades the tallest building in sub-Saharan Africa and that stopped working as a silo in 1990. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick and his studio carved the museum out of the forty-two vertical concrete tubes that made up the silo, cutting an atrium through their centre in the shape of an enlarged grain of corn, leaving the sliced tube walls exposed as a soaring, cathedral-like void. Around it are around a hundred gallery spaces over nine floors, plus a rooftop sculpture garden, a costume institute, a photography centre and centres for the moving image and art education. The founding collection came from the German businessman Jochen Zeitz, and the institution collects art from Africa and its diaspora made in the twenty-first century.

The visit begins in the atrium, which stops nearly everyone in their tracks: sixty metres of curved, cut concrete with glass-panelled lift shafts and a glazed roof of laminated panes set into the old tube tops. From there the galleries stack upwards, reached by stairs and lifts, and the hang changes several times a year, so what you see depends on when you come. Expect large-scale installation, photography, video, textile and performance-based work alongside painting and sculpture: names that have shown here include Nicholas Hlobo, Athi-Patra Ruga, Kudzanai Chiurai and William Kentridge, among many others. The rooftop sculpture terrace gives a view over the harbour, Table Mountain and the Silo Hotel above. Labels are generous and there is a good bookshop on the ground floor.

Plan two to three hours, which is enough for the atrium, three or four gallery floors and the roof without rushing. Check the current exhibition programme before you go, since the museum rotates heavily and a floor may be closed during installation. Free guided tours run at set times on some days; ask at the desk on arrival. Photography is generally permitted in the atrium and most galleries without flash. If you dislike contemporary art, come anyway for the building, and give yourself thirty minutes for the atrium and the roof rather than skipping the museum entirely. Do not attempt it in the last hour before closing, because the upper floors start shutting down.

Getting there is simple. The museum stands in the Silo District at the V&A Waterfront, a ten-minute walk from the Clock Tower, five minutes from the Time Out Market building and about twenty-five minutes on foot from the Cape Town International Convention Centre along the harbour edge. MyCiTi buses run from the Civic Centre station to the Waterfront for roughly R12-R20 on a myconnect card, and the Waterfront shuttle drops close by. Parking is in the Waterfront garages, with the Silo and Clock Tower garages nearest, at roughly R10-R20 an hour. E-hailing from the City Bowl costs about R60-R100. The whole Silo District is pedestrianised, so the final approach is on foot regardless of how you arrive.

Standard adult admission is around R230. Children and young people under eighteen enter free at all times, and there are reduced rates for students, pensioners and South African residents with an ID document. African passport holders enter free every Wednesday between 10:00 and 13:00, which is a genuine and generous policy and also makes that window the busiest of the week. Guided tours, when running, are included in admission. Extras inside are the bookshop, with catalogues and prints from R150 to R900, and the ground-floor cafe where coffee is R35-R55 and a light lunch R90-R180. Waterfront parking is separate, at roughly R10-R20 an hour. Payment is card-friendly throughout.

Weekday mornings just after 10:00 are the quietest, particularly Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday between 10:00 and 13:00 is the free window for African citizens and is correspondingly full. Weekends and the December to January holiday period bring the biggest crowds, especially in the atrium, where everyone is photographing at once. The museum is closed on Mondays and on 25 December, which is the most common trip-up. Late afternoon light through the atrium roof, from about 16:00, is the best for photographs. It is an ideal wet-weather destination and one of the few places in Cape Town where a full southeaster gale outside makes no difference at all to the visit.

It suits anyone interested in contemporary art, architecture or photography, and it suits sceptics too, because the building alone justifies the walk. Teenagers tend to engage far more than they expect. Families with young children do well for an hour, with the atrium and the video works holding attention, and under-18s are free. Accessibility is excellent by South African standards: lifts serve all floors, the galleries are level, and staff assist. Anyone with a one-hour gap can still see the atrium, one floor and the roof. People who want historical or traditional African art should go elsewhere, because this collection is resolutely contemporary and mostly made since 2000.

Nearby, the Nelson Mandela Gateway for Robben Island ferries is a ten-minute walk along the Clock Tower precinct, the Two Oceans Aquarium is twelve minutes, the Watershed craft market is eight and the Time Out Market food hall is five. Honest caveats: admission is expensive by local museum standards and the collection is smaller than the building implies, so several floors may be given over to a single show. The atrium is the most photographed part and can feel like a queue of tripods. Some visitors find the curation uneven from one rotation to the next. And a Monday visit is impossible, which no amount of walking to the Silo District will change.

Plan your visit TicketsR230 adult Time needed2-3 hr visit WhereV&A Waterfront Opening hours Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00 Closed Mondays and 25 December African citizens free Wednesdays 10:00-13:00 Hotels near Zeitz MOCAA

Questions about Zeitz MOCAA

Live prices · free cancellation

3★

0.2 km away Radisson RED V&A Waterfront Cape Town

4.6/5 R3363/ night

4★

0.2 km away Victoria & Alfred Hotel by NEWMARK

4.6/5 R6870/ night

5★

0.5 km away Queen Victoria Hotel by NEWMARK

4.6/5 R6372/ night

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