Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has appointed internationally respected museum leader and curator Elvira Dyangani Ose as its new artistic director, marking a significant new chapter for the Cape Town institution as it approaches its 10th anniversary.
Dyangani Ose will take up the position on 1 October 2026, bringing extensive experience in contemporary art, institutional leadership and the development of platforms for artists from Africa and its diaspora.
She will lead the museum’s curatorial vision and artistic direction from its home in Cape Town’s Silo District at the V&A Waterfront.
The museum, which opened in 2017 in renovated grain silos, is one of the largest institutions in Africa devoted to the continent’s contemporary art. It has established itself as a major global venue in the years since.
Her appointment follows an extensive local and international search following the sudden death last year of its executive director and chief curator, Koyo Kouoh, at the age of 57.
Zeitz MOCAA looks towards its second decade, building on the foundations established during its first.
Zeitz MOCAA co-founder and co-chair, David Green OBE, said the board is delighted to welcome Dyangani Ose.
"Dyangani Ose’s appointment reflects who we are as an institution, one rooted in Africa, while connected to the world. She will oversee the Museum’s curatorial vision and direction, leading the institution through its next chapter as it approaches its second decade, building on the late Koyo Kouoh's legacy, and honouring her extraordinary artistic vision and the institutional foundations she built," said Green.
The museum’s other founder and chair, Jochen Zeitz, the German businessman and former Puma chief executive, for whom the museum is named, said the appointment arrives at an important point in the museum’s development.
‘Dyangani Ose joins Zeitz MOCAA at a defining moment in our journey. As we approach our 10th anniversary, her appointment builds on the foundations laid in our first decade. She brings deep experience in institutional leadership and will expand the museum's artistic ambition—across exhibitions, research, collections, public engagement, and the way we work with artists and audiences," said Zeitz.
Dyangani Ose said she feels privileged to join Zeitz MOCAA.
"I am thrilled to come on board at this moment to continue its journey as a leading African institution with global reach.
"I look forward to working alongside the museum's remarkable team, artists, supporters, and the local and global communities, building upon its extraordinary foundation by fostering meaningful collaborations and artistic exchanges across cultures and geographies," said Dyangani Ose.
Dyangani Ose’s career spans leading institutions across Europe, Africa, and the United States. She has served as Director of Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), from September 2021 to April 2026.
Previously, she was director and chief curator at The Showroom in London. She also served as curatorof the International Art at Tate, contributing to the development of the institution’s first strategy for collecting art from Africa and its diaspora.
She later served on the Tate Modern Advisory Council and the Thought Council at Fondazione Prada.
Previously, she has worked as curator of GIBCA, the Eighth Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, as artistic director of the 2nd Rencontres Picha – Lubumbashi Biennial and as curator at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville.
Dyangani Ose served as curator at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where, in 2006, together with Gabi Ngcobo, Tracy Murinik and Khwezi Guli, curated Olvida Quien Soy / Erase from who I Am, an exhibition examining the aesthetic strategies through which 14 emergent South African artists defined themselves and their immediate surroundings, questioning the construction of new forms of aesthetic reflection grounded in diverse modes of self-representation.
Other exhibitions her curatorial practice has encompassed include Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (2024-26); Bouchra Khalili: Between Circles and Constellations (2023); Betye Saar: Uneasy Dancer (2016); A Story Within a Story… (2015); Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2013); and Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies (2010).
Alongside her institutional and curatorial work, Dyangani Ose has taught and contributed to international discussions on modern and contemporary African art and African Diaspora artistic production and culture. She was a lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 2014 to 2021.
She is a board member of the CIMAM —The International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art and serves as the Chair of the Content Committee of the upcoming CIMAM Annual Conference in Harare.
Dyangani Ose is a doctoral candidate in the History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University in New York. She holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies in the History and Theory of Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and a degree in History of Art from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Dyangani Ose’s appointment comes as Zeitz MOCAA continues to define its role as a major international institution dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The public not-for-profit museum collects, preserves, researches and exhibits contemporary art, while presenting international exhibitions and developing educational, discursive and public programmes.
The museum’s programme includes rotating temporary exhibitions alongside dedicated space for its permanent collection. Its wider offering includes the BMW Centre for Art Education and the Koyo Kouoh Atelier, a residency programme supporting artists living and working in Cape Town.
As Dyangani Ose begins her tenure, the institution says it will continue its commitment to producing and presenting cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions and art historical knowledge, supporting the careers of Africa’s artists, strengthening its education programmes and ensuring access for all.
Her arrival places an internationally experienced African art specialist at the helm of Zeitz MOCAA’s artistic programme at a pivotal moment, as the museum looks to build on its first decade while shaping its next chapter.
taschica.pillay@nationalmg.co.za