Zeitz MOCAA

Sala

Sala is a new permanent collection exhibition that aims to further the museum’s vision and mission. Through an in-depth research project in collaboration with the 2023 cohort of the Zeitz MOCAA & University of the Western Cape (UWC) Museum Fellows, the exhibition seeks to better understand the values of the institution, the role of contemporary art in society, how the museum’s team interprets and mediates 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 invites audiences to explore and reflect on the limits and possibilities of the museum. This invitation is championed by the exhibition’s title, Sala. A word common to many Nguni languages in Southern Africa, sala forms part of a call and response exchanged when people part ways: hamba kahle, which wishes safe travels to those departing, and sala kahle, which wishes those who remain to stay well. As such, Sala is an invitation from Zeitz MOCAA for visitors to spend time with the artists featured in the exhibition and with the institution itself, reimagining the museum as an embodied space.

The 17 artists featured in the exhibition demonstrate the shifting meaning of sala within the exhibition itself—from a question, or set of questions, to an invitation to stay, contemplate and converse with the artists, the artworks and the space. Throughout the galleries, audiences will encounter works by South African multidisciplinary artist Thania Petersen, whose practice draws on the soundscapes of her Sufi spiritual upbringing; Malagasy interdisciplinary artist and designer Joël Andrianomearisoa, who navigates time through black-and-white photography; and Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, who transforms everyday materials to challenge ideas of geography and place.

Other artists featured include Athi-Patra Ruga, Cyrus Kabiru, Edson Chagas, Frohawk Two Feathers, Julien Sinzogan, Kudzanai Chiurai, Lungiswa Gqunta, Michele Mathison, Mouna Karray, Neo Matloga, Robin Rhode, Rashid Johnson, Salah Elmur and Zanele Muholi. Together, their diverse practices span photography, sculpture, painting, installation, performance, film and mixed media, inviting audiences to engage with the museum as a space for reflection, dialogue and ongoing discovery.

The exhibition is curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg, the then Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs at Zeitz MOCAA, in collaboration with Evaan Jason Ferreira, Bulelwa Lomusa Kunene, Mona Eshraghi Hakimi, Pauline Buhlebenkosi Ndhlovu and Ana Raquel Machava.

Image: Neo Matloga, Mokete wa Thabiso le Tshepiso, 2018, Courtesy of the Zeitz MOCAA Permanent
Collection.