Cape Crusader

Art, architecture and five-star hospitality converge on the banks of Cape Towns V&A Waterfront.

- Gina Johnson

There are plenty of reasons Cape Town consistently ranks among the top ten cities in the world to visit, but until recently modern art has not been one of them.

The ‘Mother City’ as it is affectionately known, draws its popularity from the southern city’s bountiful geographical assets, chiefly striking mountains and coast, and vibrant multicultural outlook.

Travellers come for culture, hiking, picture-perfect cable car views, penguin-spotting and gourmet offerings, and further afield, its position as a gateway to some of the world’s best wine country and game driving globally.

While traditional African art has long been a cornerstone of South African culture, modern art, specifically modern architecture, has been largely absent from this pretty city’s smorgasbord of offerings.

Last year, all that changed with the opening of the ambitiously conceived Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) - a modern art museum that rivals the likes of the Tate Modern in London and Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.