The Norval Foundation is Cape Town's most important contemporary art museum outside Zeitz MOCAA — a purpose-built gallery in the Constantia/Tokai valley that houses the private collection of the Memory and Legacy Foundation alongside rotating exhibitions of contemporary African art. The building, designed by dhk Architects and opened in 2018, sits against the Constantiaberg mountain and uses rammed-earth walls, floor-to-ceiling glass, and the natural landscape to create gallery spaces that are as much about the setting as the art.
The collection focuses on contemporary South African and African art — sculpture, painting, installation, and the mixed-media works that characterise the current moment in African contemporary art. The sculpture garden, with works by major South African artists displayed among indigenous fynbos and with Table Mountain visible above the treeline, is one of the most beautiful outdoor art displays in the country.
The Skotnes Restaurant & Bar (named after Cecil Skotnes, a pioneering South African printmaker) occupies a terrace overlooking the sculpture garden and serves South African cuisine with Constantia wines — combining art viewing with wine-country dining in a single afternoon. The Norval's location in the Constantia valley, near Groot Constantia and Kirstenbosch, makes it part of a cultural and wine itinerary that covers three centuries of Cape creative production in a single day.
Verified Facts
The Norval Foundation opened in 2018
The building was designed by dhk Architects using rammed-earth walls
The museum focuses on contemporary South African and African art
The museum is located in the Constantia/Tokai valley
Get walking directions
4 Steenberg Road, Steenberg, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa
