Sala

Zeitz MOCAA is pleased to introduce Sala, a new exhibition drawn from its permanent collection that aims to further the museum’s vision and mission. Through an in-depth research project in collaboration with the 2023 cohort of Zeitz MOCAA & University of the Western Cape (UWC) Museum Fellows, this exhibition is an intimate look into the museum’s holdings and archive. It aims to better understand the values of the institution, the role of contemporary art in society, how the museum’s team link and mediate the work of artists, and how the institution connects with and becomes a home for its audiences.

Central to the exhibition is a set of questions that invite audiences to explore and reflect on the limits and possibilities of the museum. This invitation is championed by the title of the exhibition—Sala. A word that is common among many Nguni languages in Southern Africa, “sala” is part of a call and response between people parting ways: hamba kahle, which provides well wishes of safe travels to those departing, and sala kahle, which welcomes those who are staying behind to stay well. As such, Sala is Zeitz MOCAA’s invitation for visitors to stay with the artists featured in the exhibition as well as to stay with the institution in the reimagining of the museum as a new embodied space.

The 17 artists chosen to be featured in the exhibition demonstrate the shifting meaning of “sala” within the show itself: from a question or set of questions to an invitation to stay and contemplate and converse—with the artists, the artworks and the space. Throughout the exhibition galleries, audiences will have the opportunity to engage and reflect with artists such as South African multi-disciplinary artist Thania Petersen, who provides soundscapes from her Sufi spiritual upbringing; Malagasy inter-disciplinary artist and designer Joël Andrianomearisoa, who navigates time using black and white photography; and Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, who elevates everyday materials to challenge the constraints of geographical place.

Other artists include South African Athi-Patra Ruga, known for his performance and painting work; Kenyan sculptor and photographer Cyrus Kabiru; Angolan photographer Edson Chagas; Frohawk Two Feathers, a writer, illustrator and painter from the United States; Julien Sinzogan, a painter hailing from Benin; Zimbabwean multi-disciplinary artist and activist Kudzanai Chiurai; Lungiswa Gqunta, a South African artist who works in video, performance, printmaking, sculpture and installation; South African sculptor and installation artist Michele Mathison; Tunisian-born photographer Mouna Karray; South African painter and collagist Neo Matloga; South African multi-disciplinary artist Robin Rhode; American artist Rashid Johnson; Sudanese painter, designer and filmmaker Salah Elmur; and Zanele Muholi, a South African artist specialising in photography, video and installation.

Curators: Storm Janse van Rensburg in collaboration with the Zeitz MOCAA & University of the Western Cape (UWC) Museum Fellows 2023: Evaan Jason Ferreira, Bulelwa Lomusa Kunene, Mona Eshraghi Hakimi, Pauline Buhlebenkosi Ndhlovu and Ana Raquel Machava

Zeitz MOCAA’s curatorial, exhibition and fellowship programming is proudly supported by Gucci and the Mellon Foundation. The exhibition and contribution by the Zeitz MOCAA and University of the Western Cape (UWC) Museum Fellows are supported by the AKO Foundation.