Gallery MOMO was founded in Johannesburg in 2002 by South African art dealer and collector, Monna Mokoena. In 2015, the organization opened a second branch in Cape Town. Writing in 'Art and the Global Economy', Kai Lossgot identified Gallery MOMO as still in 2017, 'South Africa's only black-owned Gallery' and recounted that it had 'paved the way for South Africa's return to the Venice Biennial. In 2018, Ishani Chetty, writing for the Lifestyle and listings magazine 'Cape Town Etc. Ranked Gallery MOMO as one of the city's top five 'must visit' art venues.

The gallery represents a prominent selection of local and international artists working in Photography, sculpture and painting. It not only seeks out new tendencies within the contemporary art scene on the African continent but also supports artists from the Diaspora. With a residency programme for local and international curators and artists, Gallery MOMO wants to encourage an international dialogue and cooperation between artists from different parts of the world.