By Staff Writer
A car can take you places, but Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car has helped connect artists across a continent. That journey reaches Cape Town this December, when an exhibition brings together motoring, film and African storytelling at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA).
Opening on 11 December 2026, Turning Towards the Sun grew from Mehretu’s commission to create BMW Art Car #20. The car will be displayed in the museum’s Atrium Bowl, while the exhibition runs on Level 4 until 15 August 2027.
Five cities, shared ideas
Mehretu developed the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) with filmmaker Mehret Mandefro and the late curator Koyo Kouoh. Workshops followed in Lagos, Tangier, Nairobi, Dakar and Cape Town, creating opportunities for artists to exchange ideas and explore Africa’s filmmaking heritage.
“For me, the idea of a portal is about opening up possibilities – creating space to imagine beyond the worlds we have inherited,” says Mehretu.
The resulting exhibition features six participating artists and filmmakers, including Mati Diop, Jim Chuchu, Wanuri Kahiu and The Otolith Group. Their video installations explore subjects ranging from women’s anger and young people’s political experiences to identity and animation.
Wanuri Kahiu. Picture: Yusuf Ahmed.
Beyond the car
For BMW, the project extends its longstanding cultural involvement into a platform for creative collaboration. The company has partnered with Zeitz MOCAA since the museum’s founding.
Curated by Zeitz MOCAA assistant curator Khanyi Mawhayi, the exhibition places African and diasporic perspectives at its centre, inviting visitors to discover the people and ideas shaping these moving-image works.
For anyone planning a Cape Town visit over summer, it offers an opportunity to see Mehretu’s Art Car up close and explore the wider creative exchange it helped inspire. Find it at Zeitz MOCAA in the V&A Waterfront’s Silo District.
