A long-time advocate of cultural appreciation and preservation, industrialist Jochen Zeitz transforms one of Cape Town’s historical structures into the new home of contemporary African art.
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Above Jochen Zeitz

Dynamic. Forward-thinking. Inspired. These are words that are commonly used to describe some of the most revolutionary thinkers and innovators in human history: people who have served to bring about change either in nations or specific industries. The same words also describe the German businessman and philanthropist Jochen Zeitz. Since the earliest years of his career, Zeitz has been considered a titan in the corporate world, as well as a prime mover with regard to environmental sustainability and the promotion of arts and culture on a global level.

After majoring in international marketing and finance at the European Business School, Zeitz began his career with consumer giant Colgate Palmolive before jumping ship in 1990 to join sporting goods icon Puma. By 1993, he would take on the helm as Puma’s chairman and CEO, the youngest German in history to take the position at just 30 years of age.

It was during Zeitz’s stint at Puma that he began to give back to society by way of numerous initiatives for corporate ethics and environmental sustainability. In 2008, he formed the Zeitz Foundation of Intercultural Ecosphere Safety, a non-profit organisation that supports innovative solutions that balance environmental conservation, community development, commerce, and culture. He would later team up with English magnate/philanthropist Sir Richard Branson to form The B Team, which is working on better ways to do business for the benefit of both humanity and the planet.

Most recently, Zeitz stepped up into the role as a patron for the arts when he founded the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa in 2002. It is, at present, the largest and most eclectic collection of modern African art—another of Zeitz’s grand gestures for the improvement of humanity and the preservation of the region’s rich cultural heritage for generations to come.

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Above The Zeitz MOCAA was originally a shipping hub, but now houses the Zeitz MOCAA and the luxurious Silo Hotel

PHILIPPINE TATLER: When did your interest in art begin and what was your first purchase?

JOCHEN ZEITZ: I’ve always been interested in art—mostly the historical kind. My family frequented museums, often appreciating the pieces from a historical perspective. Eventually, I moved to New York, and also lived in France and, automatically, got immersed in contemporary art. I purchased my first piece when I started my first job in New York City and lived in the [Greenwich] Village. It was some pop art which I still have today. But that was in the ‘80s.

PT: Where is it now?

JZ: In our place in New Mexico.

PT: If you don’t live in Germany anymore, where is home?

JZ: My parents have both passed away but I still have a brother and a sister in Germany. However, I live with my fiancé and our two children [age 1-1/2 and 3 weeks] in several places. There is Segera in Kenya, a tourist destination where wildlife comes out from everywhere. It is a sustainable luxury retreat, reachable by a direct flight from Cape Town. Our home is wherever we are so it could be Kenya, London, or Richmonde. My fiancé is a film producer and she must live near LA [Los Angeles, California] so we also have a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Above Nandipha Mntambo
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Above Roger Ballen
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Above Sculpture Garden
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Above Kendell Geers
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Above Interior shot of the Zeitz MOCAA, an atrium view towards the entrance (photographed by Iwan Baan)

PT: Was being once the youngest CEO in Puma an advantage or a disadvantage?

JZ: I think it was a huge advantage because before; I was a person who just wanted to get a job done. I thought I knew what needed to be done and I didn’t ask too many questions or had to ask too many questions. That young entrepreneurial drive at the time just made me do things and not listen too much to the critics.

PT: Of course you brought the company to an unprecedented level of profitability. When was it when you said you’ve had enough of this?

JZ: I was CEO for 20 years. But I felt that it wasn’t an extraordinary experience or an extraordinary career. That gave me the credibility of what I am doing today. That feeling [of wanting something better] was the launching platform to what I was really passionate about. I felt that I would have a bigger impact in the world if I were to leave my job and dedicate my time to separate projects rather than just one big one.

PT: Have you ever been to the Philippines?

JZ: Yes, mostly while I was CEO of Puma; usually at our base in Manila. I had so much fun visiting the museums; I am planning to go back there very soon.

PT: You mention Puma again; what important lesson have you learnt working there?

JZ: Just follow your dreams and instincts. If you want to change something, or contribute to substantial change, you have to follow your convictions.

PT: How did your interest in sustainable solutions come about?

JZ: When I was the CEO of Puma, I realised that business was a major part of the problem as I realised that we were over-utilising our planet’s natural resources. Philanthropy could help but it could not solve all the problems. So business should be a part of the solution too. Seeing factories in Asia in the early ’80s and the pollution they created made me believe that we needed to really be a part of an ultimate solution that is not just looking at financial shareholder value but at social environmental input at the same time.

PT: What made you fall in love with Africa?

JZ: Nature primarily in the beginning and then the  cultural diversity. But it was really the extraordinary nature that kept me going back all the time. Over time, being exposed to diversity, the continent, its people and the cultureseverything fascinated me. And the creativity that I’ve seen here inspired me.

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Above Kudzanai Chiurai
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Above Architect Thomas Heatherwick (photo by Helena Heatherwick)
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Above Mary Sibande
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Above Nandipha Mntambo

PT: Tell us about the Zeitz MOCAA Museum. How did this come about?

JZ: I fell in love with Africa when I first came here in ’89, and decided that, one day, I would make this place, this continent, somehow evolve for me. After a long search, I found a place that I still own today in Kenya. I developed a philosophy through the foundation that I set up about 10 years ago called the Long Run initiative. It believes in using business as a force for goodin the mix to sustain and support a conservation community culture. I felt I needed a place and a home s omewhere in Africa because I couldn’t quite understand why there was no major institution that w ould represent African artists in Africa. So I started collecting contemporary African art about 10 years ago, always with a goal to someday house it somewhere in Africa. One decade later, I have this museum that I opened last September.

PT: What’s the story you want to be made known through this museum?

JZ: I want to help create a platform for Africans who have a story to tell in terms of social, environmental, cultural, political, or personal messaging; this institution is about Africans writing their own history. Quite often, Africa has been defined f rom the outside and outsiders sort of define what Africa is. We felt that althoug h contemporary artists who live and work in Africa, or in the diaspora gets represented in other parts of the world [should be ‘heard’]. Every continent, every country, should have an institution that represents its own artists and their important message. This is about Africans telling their own story, defining their own history, and about others having a better understanding of them through their art, what is sues they have. I do believe in the transformative power of art, especially the way we’ve selected the art. It’s very meaningful and that’s really the idea behind this institution, in addition to being a strong educational platform.

PT: How do you assess the world’s interest in African art?

JZ: If you go by a 20-year perspective, it’s not so much [Africa’s cultural change]. Contemporary art was not something that was really at the forefront. But look at Asia today: it has numerous artists rising everywhere, every day. This same phenomenon we see in Africa. As the continent grows, becomes an economic power, and extends its reach in the world, you will see more becoming interested in its art. In fact, it has already started. In the last three years, there’s been quite a lot of interest in contemporary art. To think that this is the last continent where there wasn’t so much visibility for art. It doesn’t mean that art wasn’t present, it just had low visibility.

PT: How did you come to work with Thomas Heatherwick as the designer for the museum?

JZ: He saw the building [the iconic grain silo at the Waterfront] many years ago and asked why isn’t anybody doing anything with it? Then he was approached by the V&A Waterfront Holdings who told him that they really did not know what to do with it either. Around the same time, we [the Zeitz Foundation] were searching for a place [to build a museum]. We all met together and, as they say, the rest is history.

PT: There are some questions as to your being a non-African and how will this impact on African museum?

JZ: An African should have come and done it but no one didso I did it. We’re living in a global world and we do what needs to be done. What’s important is I’m not doing the talking, I’m not curating the shows, I’m not defining what’s being shown, how it’s being presented. Who the artists are and so on and so forth. So in that perspective, I’m merely providing the platform. Ultimately, it’s Africans selecting, speaking, and defining how they want to be seen as. If I were the one curating the shows, it wouldn’t be good because it would be from an outsider’s viewpoint. But I am not. I am just giving the platform.

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Above Centre for the Moving

PT: What would you want people to see in the museum?

JZ: For everyone to see contemporary African art on this scale. It was really wonderful to see people bond and stay for hours and hours, and they come back many times. How people engage with the art, with the st ories, with the artiststhat’s the best. Quite often you go to Paris, London, other places, and people rush through an exhibition. You cannot do that here. It takes time to understand [the art]. That’s important for us, the engagement with the art. It’s not looking at art f or the sake of looking at art. It’s the stories behind the art that’s capturing people’s attention. This is the idea behind the transformative power of art that we’re trying to communicate.

PT: Are there any African artists that people should look out for?

JZ: It depends. It’s such a huge point of view for one institution. We’re just trying to represent everything, we try to be as representative as possible, looking at all regions of Africa and giving them a voice. But there would be much more that they would show in future years, because the diversity is massive.

PT: You are simply doing so many things now. Do you ever find time to relax?

JZ: What I’m doing is what I love. I dedicate my time to things that I enjoy doing. And that’s my life. There is no division between my private life and my business life.

PT: Is there a philosophy in life that you live by?

JZ: There is a book by a Benedictine monk that has kept me grounded. I’m also very interested in psychoanalysis and psychology so I think these sciences also help me understand things, like why I’m doing what I’m doing.

PT: Why are you doing what you’re doing?

JZ: I do it for myself. I’m trying to do things that I enjoy doing at the same time leave a positive impact in the world. Doing that, coming here, is all a big part of my life.

PT: Was this something of an ambition—something you aspired for when you were a child?

JZ: I wanted to be a medical doctor first; then I sort of stumbled into business. But I think the one thing that I always wanted to do is sort of live abroad and enjoy. I love other cultures, I love speaking other languages, and engaging with foreign cultures. It’s a bit of a cliché, but I wanted to be somebody who looks at himself as a global citizen [though] with roots from where I’m from. That’s sort of how I always wanted to live my life.

PT: What’s next? What more do you want to accomplish?

JZ: There is still a lot to do with the projects I’m involved in now, so I would like to continue on and succeed and spend time with my family as well. I’m working on some [big projects]. And I’m playing the guitar now. I used to play a lot when I was a teenager; I want to go back to that.

PT: I’ll end with this cliché: What is the legacy you want to be known for?

JZ: Before she passed away, my mother smiled and said, “I tried my best.” When I retire I want to have a smile on my face as I sit on my rocking chair and say, “I’ve done everything I’ve always wanted to do: to live a full life and make a positive impact.”

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