- Congolese nightclubbers, Xhosa beer drinkers, Haitian schoolgirls, African-American workers and Zulu spiritual healers are all figures in a landmark exhibition at Africa’s biggest contemporary art collection, When We See Us.
- Koyo Kouoh, the executive director of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, is a fundamental pan-Africanist, aiming to serve first and foremost the continent of Africa and its diaspora.
- When We See Us is an exploration of black identities over the past century, organised around themes such as daily life and spirituality, rather than chronology or country.
- Kouoh, who founded RAW Material Company in 2008, is also working on a “mobile museum” to tour marginalised townships in Cape Town and further afield.
- Kouoh is adamant about Zeitz Mocaa being unapologetically and decisively a pan-African, pan-diasporic museum, building its own voice and its own language.
Zeitz Mocaa boss Koyo Kouoh: ‘We are building our own voice, our own language’
The executive director discusses her drive to democratise museum-going in South Africa
Joseph Cotterill
