Arts body publishes book about African museum

The KT Wong Foundation's project archive continues to grow after 10 years of partnerships with major cultural institutions in China and the west.

With an impressive list of works already in its portfolio and in the pipeline, the foundation's founder and chairman Lady Linda Wong Davies has unveiled the charitable trust's latest book, Africa Modern: Creating the Contemporary Art of a Continent.

Established in 2007, the KT Wong Foundation aims to build bridges between China and the rest of the world through innovative cross-cultural collaborations in the arts and education.

"China and Africa have a lot in common, a lot of things that they're doing together, and have done," Davies said. "China has invested so much and I thought that this is important, by doing something like this helps raise the profile of what is happening in Africa."

Edited by writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun, the book has been created in partnership with Thomas Heatherwick, the visionary British architect of the Museum of Contemporary Art Africa.

The building, in Cape Town, is the first major contemporary art museum to be built in Africa and will be opened to the public on Sept 22.

The book includes a unique, first person account of its construction by Heatherwick, who designed the UK Pavilion for the World Shanghai Expo in 2010.

Davies says Heatherwick approached the KT Wong Foundation about publishing the book.

"I have a home in Cape Town for many years and I collect contemporary art everywhere and of course in Africa too and he gave me the whole premise of why this book should be published," she said. "It's not just about the museum, but it's about what this museum in a way represents."

She said the rise of creativity and contemporary art in Africa is similar to what has happened in China over the last 10 years.

"It's a very interesting thing for the foundation to be involved with and to see the involvement and the evolution of these new societies all changing so much, so it's very exciting," Davies said.

As well as the book, the foundation has also commissioned a piece of music from Neo Muyanga, one of South Africa's top composers and musician.

The book will be published this month with a book launch in Cape Town.