A striking neon sign reading “Turning Towards the Sun” set against a dark textured world map, celebrating collective learning and creative practices across Africa and the global diaspora.
Turning Towards the Sun at Zeitz MOCAA is a major Cape Town contemporary art showcase exploring moving image, diaspora art, and post-liberation worldmaking.
BY ARTCENTRON ART NEWS DESK
The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), in partnership with the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) and BMW, is set to launch a major multimedia presentation titled Turning Towards the Sun. Opening on Level 4 of the Cape Town museum on December 11, 2026, the project runs through August 15, 2027. The presentation brings together six international artists and filmmakers. The endeavor focuses on moving image and collective learning practices across the African continent and its global diaspora.
Participating creators include Ethiopian director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, and Kenyan multidisciplinary artist Jim Chuchu. Others are Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, American poet Robin Coste Lewis, and British interdisciplinary art collective The Otolith Group.
Turning Towards the Sun: Tracing the Roots of Pan-African Cinema
The project is curated by Zeitz MOCAA Assistant Curator Khanyi Mawhayi. She receives support from Dr. Phokeng Setai and Dr. Greer Valley. Additionally, she got logistical assistance from Angela Muritu, Inshaaf Jamodien, and Evyn Banawoye. Together, they explore what the museum’s late Executive Director and Chief Curator, Koyo Kouoh, termed the “wider Black geographies of the twenty-first century.”
Rooted in ideals of Pan-African solidarity and post-liberation worldmaking, the featured video installations investigate a diverse array of themes. These works explore cultural expressions of women’s rage and the complexities of Black queer masculinities across the continent. Additionally, they examine youth responses to critical political moments. Furthermore, the installations touch upon African cosmo-technics and an expanded field of animation inspired by the literature of Nigerian author Amos Tutuola.
This focus aligns closely with broader historical conversations surrounding cultural institutions in Africa. In fact, independent spaces and historical archives like CCA Lagos have long shaped contemporary discourse in similar ways.
The Intercontinental Workshops and Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car
The catalyst for this continental initiative stems from artist Julie Mehretu’s nomination to design the 20th BMW Art Car. Her design will be displayed in the museum’s Atrium Bowl during the showcase. For her creation, Mehretu draws inspiration from Arundhati Roy’s observation that “the pandemic is a portal.” She approached her commission as a gateway into new worlds shaped by Pan-African perspectives and cinematic histories.
Alongside filmmaker Mehret Mandefro and Kouoh, Mehretu helped lay the groundwork for these dialogues through AFMAC. This groundwork involved a series of five intercontinental workshops held in Lagos, Nigeria; Tangier, Morocco; and Nairobi, Kenya. Others are Dakar, Senegal, and Cape Town, South Africa, led by artists participating in the initiative.
The Ideological Framework Behind Turning Towards the Sun
The title Turning Towards the Sun borrows from a statement by Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. He shared this perspective in the 1983 documentary Twenty Years of African Cinema (Caméra d’Afrique), directed by Tunisian filmmaker Ferid Boughedir. When questioned regarding European interpretations of his films, Sembène rejected the premise, asserting:
“Why should I be like a sunflower turning towards the sun? I, myself, am the sun.”
The curators recontextualize Sembène’s words for this showcase. They suggest that focused critical attention on Pan-African cinema and diasporic visual production constitutes a natural turning toward the artistic knowledge originating from the continent.
Institutional Mission and Future Implications
Turning Towards the Sun forms part of Zeitz MOCAA’s ongoing series of research-driven exhibitions designed to contextualize significant contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora. By situating contemporary art within a global framework, the institution continues to advance art-historical scholarship and public educational access.
Curatorial and exhibition programming at the museum receives core financial support from the Mellon Foundation and BMW South Africa. For more context on how international museums highlight contemporary practices from the region, readers can explore broader overviews of contemporary African art at NOMA or historical auction milestones.
