Zeitz MOCAA Names New Director. Her Resume Reads Like a Global Art Tour.

Cape Town's Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) just announced its new artistic director, Elvira Dyangani Ose, who officially steps into the role on October 1. She'll be taking the reins of the museum's curatorial program, following the late Koyo Kouoh, who served as executive director and chief curator until May 2025.

Dyangani Ose arrives with a CV that could make an art globe-trotter blush. She's currently steering the 2nd Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial and, until recently, was directing MACBA Barcelona. (She stepped down from that gig when the Abu Dhabi position was deemed a conflict of interest, because apparently, even art directors have to avoid double-dipping.)

Before all that, her passport got stamps from The Showroom in London, Creative Time in New York, and Tate in London. She's also curated biennials from Sweden to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So, yeah, she gets around.

Shaping the Future of African Art

Her specialty? Modern and contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, which makes her a rather perfect fit for Zeitz MOCAA. She's put together solo shows for heavy hitters like Bouchra Khalili and Carrie Mae Weems, and even co-curated "Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica" at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Back in 2006, she co-organized an exhibition in Spain featuring 14 emerging South African artists, exploring self-representation and aesthetic reflection. It seems she's been building towards this role for quite some time, like a meticulously curated career retrospective.

David Green, cofounder of Zeitz MOCAA, summed it up rather elegantly: Dyangani Ose's appointment embodies the museum's identity — "rooted in Africa, while connected to the world." She's now tasked with guiding the museum's curatorial vision into its second decade, building on the foundation left by Koyo Kouoh. Which, if you think about it, is both a massive privilege and an equally massive to-do list.