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Elvira Dyangani Ose, previously the director of Barcelona's Museu d'Art Contemporani, has taken on the role of artistic director at Cape Town's Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MoCAA). The position became vacant following the passing of Koyo Kouoh, the museum's former executive director and chief curator. Ose will assume her new role in October, succeeding Kouoh.

The museum, which showcases contemporary African art and its diaspora, stated that Ose will lead the creative, artistic, and cultural aspects of the institution, while Fawaz Mustapha, the managing director, will oversee operations, finances, and governance. David Green, co-founder and co-chair of Zeitz MoCAA, announced that this change in leadership will foster a "joint leadership" approach.

Ose's background includes directing the Showroom London, curatorial positions at Creative Time in New York and Tate Modern, and serving as a curator at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Gran Canaria. She is also a doctoral candidate in History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University. Dyangani Ose's time at Macba was terminated when the museum's governing body deemed her involvement in the second Abu Dhabi Public Art Biennial, set to launch in October, as incompatible with her directorship.

She resigned from the Venice Biennale jury earlier this year over the inclusion of Russian and Israeli artists. The Zeitz MoCAA's founding collection, established in September 2017, consists of the holdings of Jochen Zeitz, the former CEO of Puma. The museum, housed in a waterfront grain silo complex and designed by Thomas Heatherwick, was praised as a landmark institution for the study and acquisition of contemporary African art.

Zeitz MoCAA's inaugural executive director and chief curator, Mark Coetzee, was suspended in 2019 due to misconduct allegations, leading to Koyo Kouoh's appointment as his successor. Despite its opening over a year ago, the Cape Town museum's curatorial and educational achievements have yet to meet the initial expectations.