Elvira Dyangani Ose Takes the Helm at Zeitz MoCAA

Elvira Dyangani Ose has been appointed artistic director of Zeitz MoCAA in Cape Town. She follows the late Koyo Kouoh in the role and takes it up in October. She was previously director of Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. She also selected, with Adom Getachew, a list of five recommended books on Pan‑Africanism and art for The Art Newspaper. Inheriting an institution from a director who died in post is a particular kind of appointment, and the person taking it on must grieve and lead at the same time. The plain plastered interior with one high window and a bare floor becomes her new headquarters, where light streams in and the bare floor echoes each careful step. The high window frames a view of Cape Town's skyline, a reminder of the city's pulse that she will soon help steer. Her hands, once accustomed to guiding exhibitions in Barcelona, now hold a stack of the five books she and Getachew chose, symbols of the intellectual lineage she inherits. As she arranges the books on the floor, the silence of the room is punctuated only by the distant hum of the city, a subtle soundtrack to her reflection. In that quiet, she balances the weight of grief for Kouoh with the responsibility of charting a new course for Zeitz MoCAA, a task that demands both tenderness and decisive vision.