Inside The Exhibition: Home is Where The Art is: Art is Where The Home Is at Zeitz MOCAA

WORDS Cheri Morris IMAGES Dillon Marsh, courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA

After several months of lockdown-induced closure, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has reopened with an unprecedented exhibition dedicated to the art made, owned and loved by Capetonians, titled Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is.

A first for a major museum in South Africa, the exhibition features over 2 000 artworks from professional and amateur artists, children and collectors alike. “As part of a re-positioning and re-articulation of the role of our institution, this exhibition marks a transformative shift in how Zeitz MOCAA engages with audiences and foregrounds the creativity and diversity of those in Cape Town,” says Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA .

Speaking directly to the context of the global pandemic, there is an apt focus on the home space, particularly through the lens of art that has offered solace and joy during trying times.

Artwork submissions have been arranged into five themes: The Garden, which explores the life of plants, growth, cultivation and labour; Outside, which encompasses landscapes and public space; Inside, which includes interiors, domestic spaces and inner psychological states; Time, which notes the ever-ticking clock and abstract expressions; and Relations, which celebrates interconnectedness, relationships and communities.

“Art is in the eye of the beholder could be the translation of Home Is Where The Art Is,” says Koyo. “With no hierarchy or selection, this is an opportunity for us to find out what art means to our audience and by the same token, attempting to find out what a museum could stand for in current times.”

Find out more about how Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is came about, here. The exhibition runs until 10 January 2021 and also features a series of public programmes. For more information, visit Zeitz MOCAA’s zeitzmocaa.museum or call 087 350 4777.