The world’s largest museum dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora has been unveiled at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, and will officially open its doors to the public on Friday.

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is the V&A Waterfront’s R500-million project aimed at transforming a nearly 100-year-old concrete grain silo into a cutting-edge museum.

The development, which has been four years in the making, includes 6 000 m² of exhibition space in 100 galleries, a rooftop sculpture garden, a bookshop and a restaurant and bar. 

“The idea of turning a giant disused concrete grain silo made from 116 vertical tubes into a new kind of public space was weird and compelling from the beginning. We were excited by the opportunity to unlock this formerly dead structure and transform it into somewhere for people to see and enjoy the most incredible artworks from the continent of Africa,” said London-based Heatherwick Studio founder Thomas Heatherwick.

Heatherwick designed the museum in conjunction with South African architects.

The galleries and the cathedral-like atrium space at the centre of the museum have been carved from the silo’s dense cellular structure of 42 tubes that pack the building.

The museum is a joint nonprofit partnership between the V&A Waterfront and German business entrepreneur Jochen Zeitz. The museum’s founding art collection, the Zeitz collection, is on long-term loan and makes up most of the extensive art on display.

Zeitz MOCAA will also house different centres and institutes within the overall museum, including the centres for Costume Institute, Curatorial Excellence, Moving Image, Photography, Art Education and Performative Practice.

V&A Waterfront CEO David Green said he envisaged that the Zeitz MOCAA would be a magnet for South Africans as well as tourists.

“Accessibility will be at the heart. We recognise the importance art plays in society and the need to showcase the talents of Africa in Africa.”

Through the ‘Access for All’ programme, anyone under the age of 18 will be allowed free entrance to the museum all year around. There will be free admission every Wednesday morning for all South Africans and other visitors from the African continent, and half-price admission for all on Late Night Fridays’.

Museum executive director and chief curator Mark Coetzee said he hoped the museum would also serve to teach a new generation of young people the art of curation and museum management. Zeitz MOCAA will be working with 25 young curators a year.

School learners and students are also expected to benefit greatly from the museum. Classrooms have been set up where communities around the Western Cape will be able to learn about art as well as make art themselves, said Coetzee.