MOCAA Art Club (M A C) 2024 Exhibition
On view from 2 November 2024 until 28 February 2025
Basement Tunnels, Level -1
Curated by Simamkele Sitwebile, Mandisa Ngqulana, and Chloe van der Merwe
MOCAA Art Club (M A C) is a BMW Centre for Art Education programme for teenagers from the diverse localities of Cape Town. This year brought 16 members from Bonteheuwel, Delft, Khayelitsha, Philippi, Mitchel’s Plain and Nyanga to interact in an environment that promotes social cohesion. Using their collective zeal for art-making to engender criticality and visual literacy, members explored a myriad of contemporary artistic practices in a series of technical and conceptual workshops.
For five months, members gathered every second Saturday to participate in sessions intended to observe, reflect, discuss, make and write. The year’s theme, “identity in space”, served as a conceptual framework for examining personal experiences and how they intersect with a broader social and spatial context. In alignment with the BMW Centre for Art Education’s objective to translate exhibitions into learning resources, they responded to the museum’s permanent collections, SALA and Selections from the Collection; as well as Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting (at the Iziko South African National Gallery), and the biodiversity of the Cape Flats Nature Reserve.
Over the course of 14 sessions, club members were immersed in the works of Neo Matloga, Jody Paulsen, Zanele Muholi and Esther Mahlangu; where each project was facilitated as a responsive shift from the drawing processes members were accustomed to – towards explorative making and ideation. The members’ collaborative and individual artworks culminated into an exhibition, A Seat at the Table. This title reflects the programme’s intention to provide a platform to young people with access to professional art practices, where their voices are equally heard and valued. It’s an allegorical table, where each participant’s unique perspective contributes to a larger conversation about art, selfhood, and community.
Through their artworks, the teenagers used their own subjective view to make sense of the world around them, creating a range of works that resonate with the personal and collective experiences of the group. The four projects completed during these sessions are an indication of their engagement with museum culture, and their contribution to the ever-evolving dialogue about who has a seat at the table in the art world.
PROGRAMME PARTICIPANTS
Meet the 16 teenagers in grades 10 to 11 that come from the diverse localities and schools in Cape Town.
Anitha Qoqa
Asisipho May
Bonga Mtanyana
Chelsea-Lee Alexander
Ciaren Andrews
Damian Chadwick
Delroy Chazika
Fawaaz Mogamad Kamaar
Lethu Sityoshwana
Lisolethu Pamla
Shane Madzamba
Sinothando Tina
Steven Sabe
Thembelani Petros
Thimna Yekani
Zimi Arnold Mathebe
PROGRAMME FACILITATORS
Simamkele Sitwebile: M A C Manager and Facilitator
Mandisa Ngqulana: M A C Manager and Facilitator
Chloe van der Merwe: M A C Educator and Facilitator
Additional Support: Abbey IT-A, 2024 Zeitz MOCAA & UWC Fellow
With special thanks to Talia Naicker and Liesl Hartman for their support in realising the exhibition, and throughout the year.
Image credit: Lethu Sityoshwana & Lisolethu Pamla, Ngenani! Series, 2024. Mixed media. 594mm x 420mm.