Bongo Mei explores how Dr Greer Valley’s curatorial vision positions the museum as a catalyst for cultural belonging and critical dialogue.
Dr Greer Valley. Senior Curator, Head of Curatorial Affairs, Zeitz MOCAA, 2025. Courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA.
In the evolving landscape of African contemporary art, the museum is no longer a passive space of collection and display. Institutions like Zeitz MOCAA are reshaping the very ethics of curatorship, embracing inclusive practices that prioritise artists’ intentions, community voices, and cross-cultural dialogue. In a candid interview with Dr Greer Valley, Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs at Zeitz MOCAA, we gain insight into the curatorial philosophies and community-driven strategies shaping the museum’s role as a catalyst for cultural and communal development.
Bongo Mei: What inspires your curatorial approach?
Dr Greer Valley: I’m affected by narratives that challenge conventional historical representations and provide new lenses through which African and diasporic experiences can be explored. Emphasis on the paracuratorial, as well as play, intersectionality, and collaboration, informs my practice, encouraging ongoing dialogue between artists, collaborators, audiences, and communities.
Who is the primary concern while developing the approach?
My primary concern is always for the artists and audiences simultaneously. It’s essential to me that the voices and intentions of artists remain central to the work we do, while also ensuring that exhibitions are meaningful and engaging for diverse audiences. I believe it is important for the curator to facilitate dialogue rather than prescribe interpretations, allowing visitors to encounter art in ways that are personally and collectively transformative.
Selections from the Collection, Zeitz MOCAA, 2025. Courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA.
What is the ambition you have for your role with Zeitz MOCAA in the future?
My ambition is to continue and develop the many important curatorial strides made by our former chief curator and executive director, Koyo Kouoh, and for Zeitz MOCAA to continue to become a globally recognised thought leader in contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora. My role as senior curator and head of curatorial affairs is to expand the museum’s role as an ever-evolving intellectual and artistic hub on the continent that shapes discourse, amplifies underrepresented voices, and presents multiple and diverse perspectives.
How does Zeitz MOCAA actively support and elevate contemporary African and diasporic artists through its exhibitions and programs?
Zeitz MOCAA actively centres contemporary artists from Africa and its diasporas through research-led exhibitions, critical public programming, and sustained engagement with artists at different stages of their careers. We provide artists with a dynamic platform for experimentation, research, and reflection, often commissioning new works. We also commission critical writing on artists’ work for every exhibition we do, forming part of our broader publishing initiatives.
How does the museum ensure accessibility and meaningful engagement for local communities and underrepresented audiences?
Our commitment to accessibility and community engagement informs every facet of our approach, from curatorial practices to programming strategies. We develop compelling narratives that aim to resonate across diverse audiences, complemented by educational programs that invite dialogue, curiosity, and reflection. Initiatives such as Africa Wednesdays, where African passport holders receive free entry between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm, underscore our dedication to inclusivity and to encourage broader participation, ensuring the museum remains an inviting space where local communities see themselves meaningfully represented and warmly welcomed.
Selections from the Collection, Zeitz MOCAA, 2025. Courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA.
How does Zeitz MOCAA utilise education to promote intercultural understanding and foster critical dialogue around contemporary African art?
Education is fundamental to Zeitz MOCAA’s mission, serving as a powerful catalyst for intercultural understanding and critical discourse. The BMW Centre for Art Education at the museum provides tailored programs and interactive experiences that accommodate diverse age groups, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. Through workshops, guided tours, dialogues, and public events, we equip our audiences with tools to engage deeply with complex themes, sparking conversations that extend beyond the exhibitions, and encouraging continuous learning and mutual understanding across cultures.
Does Zeitz MOCAA collaborate with transnational organisations, and how do these partnerships influence its curatorial or outreach strategies?
Collaboration is integral to Zeitz MOCAA’s curatorial and outreach methodologies. We actively partner with transnational institutions, international foundations, and organisations to co-realise exhibitions, develop educational initiatives, and support artist-driven research projects. These partnerships profoundly inform our curatorial strategies by embedding global perspectives into local contexts and enabling expansive dialogues that traverse geographic boundaries, enriching our approach and extending our impact both continentally and internationally.
What are the museum’s key goals for the next few years, and how does it plan to strengthen its impact across the continent and beyond?
In the coming years, Zeitz MOCAA aims to consolidate and expand upon the visionary curatorial trajectory established by our former Executive Director and Chief Curator, Koyo Kouoh. Central to this ambition is positioning the museum as a globally recognised intellectual and creative hub for contemporary African and diasporic art. My role as Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs involves fostering Zeitz MOCAA’s ongoing evolution into a space that actively shapes discourse and offers nuanced, multifaceted perspectives. Through strategic exhibitions, targeted collaborations, and sustained engagement with diverse audiences and communities, the museum will continue its journey toward becoming an essential site for pan-African, globally resonant contemporary art narratives.
Selections from the Collection, Zeitz MOCAA, 2025. Courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA.
Conclusion: Toward an Ethical, Empowered Future
Zeitz MOCAA exemplifies a museum model that is not only rooted in the celebration of African contemporary art but also deeply committed to the ethical responsibilities that such work demands. Its curatorial vision, shaped by care, dialogue, and critical engagement, challenges extractive and hierarchical models of curation, offering instead a structure where artists, audiences, and communities are active agents in creating meaning.
By prioritising accessibility, nurturing transnational collaboration, and positioning education as a transformative tool, Zeitz MOCAA asserts that museums must be more than cultural monuments—they must be instruments of social repair and visionary platforms for the future. In a world increasingly fractured by inequality and cultural erasure, the African contemporary museum must continue to hold space for multiplicity, memory, and the radical imagination.
As Zeitz MOCAA charts this course, it not only redefines the ethical foundation of curatorial practice on the continent but also offers a blueprint for global institutions seeking to become more just, inclusive, and responsive to the communities they claim to serve. Through this work, the museum becomes a powerful site of reclamation—where the past is re-examined, the present is illuminated, and new futures are made possible.
Bongo Mei is a South African curator, writer, and researcher whose work explores African Indigenous Knowledge through contemporary art. A Fine Art graduate of Nelson Mandela University, he began his curatorial journey with grassroots initiatives before participating in the ICI workshop at The Bag Factory in 2013. He founded CHIP_ Curatorial Heritage Interpretation Program in 2019 and curated over 50 works for Contemporary African Archives at Keyes Art Mile in 2021–2022. Now working with Bhele Galari mobile gallery, he leads Ethnic 54, a research project focused on Indigenous Knowledge Systems across Africa.
