“Turning Towards the Sun” at Zeitz MOCAA: AFMAC exhibition marks the culmination of Julie Mehretu's BMW Art Car project following a series of five inter-contine
Zeitz MOCAA and BMW present "Turning Towards the Sun," an exhibition featuring six artists exploring Pan-African cinema and collective learning, running from December 11, 2026, to August 15, 2027.
The exhibition "Turning Towards the Sun" at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town brings together six artists and filmmakers to examine moving image practices and collective learning across the African continent. The project was catalyzed by artist Julie Mehretu’s commission as the creator of BMW Art Car #20, which will be displayed at the museum during the exhibition. Inspired by Arundhati Roy’s 2020 reflection on the pandemic as a portal, Mehretu framed the commission as an opportunity to create new worlds through Pan-African perspectives and cinema histories.
The exhibition features video installations addressing themes such as women’s cultural manifestations of rage, Black queer masculinities, youth experiences in political contexts, and African cosmo-technics through the lens of Nigerian author Amos Tutuola’s literature. It also includes a historical overview of cultural institutions and figures who have advanced Africa as a center of knowledge production in filmmaking. The title references a quote by Ousmane Sembène, recontextualized to emphasize African and diasporic artistic knowledge as the "sun."
Curated by Zeitz MOCAA Assistant Curator Khanyi Mawhayi, the exhibition is part of a broader Pan-African and pan-diasporic initiative supported by BMW and the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC). The project emerged from a series of five inter-continental workshops held in Lagos, Tangier, Nairobi, Dakar, and Cape Town, led by participating artists. Mehretu described the initiative as creating space to imagine beyond inherited realities through artistic exchange.
BMW’s involvement underscores its long-standing commitment to cultural engagement, with the Art Cars program at its core. Peter van Binsbergen, Chairman and CEO of BMW South Africa, highlighted the exhibition’s role in demonstrating the power of artistic freedom to foster collaboration across Africa. The exhibition is supported by the Mellon Foundation and BMW South Africa, reflecting Zeitz MOCAA’s dedication to advancing art historical knowledge and education programs.