The art of being opaque: Why
The alleged improper conduct of the Zeitz MOCAA curator has raised questions about the transparency of a museum that is subsidised with public money
The resignation of Mark Coetzee, formerly the chief curator and director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), has raised some uncomfortable but necessary questions about art practice in South Africa.
Here’s what we know. Coetzee resigned on May 16 amid “an inquiry into his professional conduct” initiated by the museum’s trustees.
“Professional conduct”, in this case, is perhaps putting it mildly, as evinced by the swift clampdown the scandal precipitated, resulting in nondisclosure agreements being signed by the aggrieved parties.
A report by City Press states that, on May 15, Coetzee discovered that his access card had been deactivated, barring him from entering the building.
He had allegedly made sexually lewd and racially offensive statements his norm in his interactions with junior staff members, sources said. Some of these employees were reportedly recent graduates on a curatorial programme funded by the institution’s board of trustees.
In a response to questions, Zeitz MOCAA, which opened in September last year at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, said an internal inquiry was being facilitated by “an independent law expert”. Coetzee, it seems, has gone to ground, not responding to phone calls, text messages or emails.
Zeitz MOCAA responded to a detailed list of questions from the Mail & Guardian — including questions relating to governance and transparency — with a terse three-line statement about an ongoing internal investigation being under way.
Allegations of Coetzee’s improper behaviour, which is said to have run the gamut of abuses (such as unilaterally imposing dress codes on staff), have also served to shine a light on the structure and mandate of Zeitz MOCAA, whose founding collection was given on loan by German businessperson Jochen Zeitz.
“The preoccupation with the figure of Coetzee obscures some larger and important questions around how so