A series of nefertiti busts transitions from historical to contemporary styles, symbolizing the evolution of art influenced by ancient egypt from 1876 to the present, titled "flight into egypt and ancient artists.
Exhibition

Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now

Through February 17
Free with Museum admission

Flight into Egypt

Dark gallery view of the intro wall of Flight Into Egypt.

For generations, ancient Egypt has inspired peoples of the African diaspora. Flight into Egypt examines how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt through visual, literary, musical, scientific, scholarly, religious, political, and performative pursuits. The exhibition explores nearly 150 years of artistic and cultural production in a range of media. While most of the work presented here is by Black Americans, works by artists from the Caribbean and by Egyptian and other African-born artists active in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere indicate the global diasporic resonance of ancient Egypt.

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, Black communities started to look to Egypt as evidence of an undeniably great ancient African culture. This served the imperative to reclaim identities that were systematically stripped through the transatlantic slave trade, generational enslavement, and continued dehumanization in American and colonial societies. It also opposed the prevailing view of Egyptology at the time, which characterized the civilization as proto-European and distinct from “Black Africa.”

Unfolding across ten sections, this exhibition traces themes such as how Black agents of culture have employed ancient Egyptian imagery to craft a unifying identity; the contributions of Black scholars to the study of ancient Egypt; and modern and contemporary Egyptian artists’ engagement with ancient Egypt. The Performance Pyramid, organized in collaboration with MetLiveArts, presents a documentary history and serves as the locus for live performances on select days throughout the exhibition’s run.

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Interior of a Mosque, Cairo, Henry Ossawa Tanner  American, Oil on canvas
Henry Ossawa Tanner
1897
Flight Into Egypt, Henry Ossawa Tanner  American, Oil on canvas, American
Henry Ossawa Tanner
1923
Cleopatra's Chair, Barbara Chase-Riboud  American, Multicolored cast bronzed plaques over oak
Barbara Chase-Riboud
1994
Cleopatra at the Mall, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich  American, High-definition video, transferred from 16 mm film, color, sound, 8 min., 58 sec.
Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
2024

Egyptology and the Color Line

Gallery view of Flight into Egypt

In the early history of the study of ancient Egypt, or Egyptology, claims that the civilization was proto-European were prevalent. While present-day Egyptology acknowledges the heterogeneity of Egyptian culture, that early identification with Europe is contentious—and this tension is premised on questions of race. Who gets to claim an ancient culture with a heralded history?

In 1887 formerly enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass described the color line—his term for the racial barrier—in the study of ancient Egypt: “It has been the fashion of American writers, to deny that the Egyptians were Negroes and claim that they are of the same race as themselves. This has, I have no doubt, been largely due to a wish to deprive the Negro of the moral support of Ancient Greatness and to appropriate the same to the white race.”

This gallery foregrounds Black scholarship and counternarratives that emerged in defiance of the Eurocentric institutional and academic Egyptology that began in the late 1700s. Even as Black scholars were excluded, developments in archaeology catalyzed curiosity. George Washington Carver, for example, submitted the patent application for his “Egyptian Blue” pigment in 1923, a year after the rediscovery of the richly painted tomb of Tutankhamun.


Awakening and Ascent

Gallery view of the Flight into Egypt with a female sculpture.

This gallery celebrates the birth of Afrocentric visual art at the beginning of the twentieth century—a birth often characterized as a rebirth, namely the Harlem Renaissance. A biblical prophecy from Psalm 68:31 declares, “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Pan-Africanists interpreted this as foretelling a new era of self-determination for the global population of African descent after the catastrophic dispersion of the transatlantic slave trade, generational enslavement, and continued dehumanization in American and colonial societies. Some heralded the 1930 ascension of Haile Selassie I to emperor of Ethiopia as corroboration. Linked via the Nile, Ethiopia and Egypt sometimes were conflated in religious and political significance. Ethiopia is personified as an ancient Egyptian queen in both Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller’s sculpture and Loïs Mailou Jones’s painting. Printed and painted visions of racial uplift by Aaron Douglas and Laura Wheeler Waring incorporate pharaonic motifs, as does the sculpture by Jamaican artist Ronald Moody.

In the adjacent gallery, issues of The Crisis, a magazine founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois, and other rare illustrated Black American publications are tangibly accessible in Steffani Jemison’s and Jamal Cyrus’s interactive installation Alpha’s Bet Is Not Over Yet (2011).

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Ethiopia Awakening, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller  American, Plaster
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
ca. 1914–21
Covers of The Crisis 3, no. 3, John Henry Adams Jr.  American, Ink on paper
John Henry Adams Jr.
January 1912
Covers of The Crisis 3, no. 5, John Henry Adams Jr.  American, Ink on paper
John Henry Adams Jr.
March 1912
Covers of The Crisis 5, no. 1, John Henry Adams Jr.  American, Ink on paper
John Henry Adams Jr.
November 1912
Nile Queen For Hair and Skin, back cover of The Crisis 20, no. 4, Roche, Ink on paper
Roche
August 1920
Egypt and Spring, cover of The Crisis 25, no. 6, Laura Wheeler Waring  American, Ink on paper
Laura Wheeler Waring
April 1923
The Negro World 14, no. 12, Ink on paper
May 5, 1923
The Strength of Africa, cover of The Crisis 28, no. 5, Laura Wheeler Waring  American, Ink on paper
Laura Wheeler Waring
September 1924
Africa in America, cover of The Crisis 28, no. 2, Laura Wheeler Waring  American, Ink on paper
Laura Wheeler Waring
June 1924
"Tutankh-Amen and Ras Tafari," in The Crisis 29, no. 2, Kantiba Nerouy, Ink on paper
Kantiba Nerouy
December 1924
Cover of Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists, Aaron Douglas  American, Ink on paper
Aaron Douglas
November 1926
Cover of The Negro in Art Week, November 16–23, Charles Clarence Dawson  American, Ink on paper
Charles Clarence Dawson
Chicago Woman's Club
1927
Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God, cover of The Crisis 34, no. 3, Aaron Douglas  American, Ink on paper
Aaron Douglas
May 1927
Let My People Go, Aaron Douglas  American, Oil on Masonite
Aaron Douglas
ca. 1935–39
The Ascent of Ethiopia, Loïs Mailou Jones  American, Oil on canvas
Loïs Mailou Jones
1932
Negro Pharaoh–Eighteenth Dynasty, Malvin Gray Johnson  American, Oil on cardboard
Malvin Gray Johnson
1934
Tacet, Ronald Moody  Jamaican, Elm wood
Ronald Moody
1938
Building More Stately Mansions, Aaron Douglas  American, Oil on canvas
Aaron Douglas
1944
Alpha's Bet Is Not Over Yet, Steffani Jemison  American, Newsstand, chairs, tables, up to 575 facsimiles of Black periodicals published between 1900 and 1940
Steffani Jemison
Jamal Cyrus
2011

Heritage Studies

Gallery view of the Flight into Egypt exhibition.

Too often, the perspectives of modern Egyptians have been omitted from discourse about ancient Egypt in Western museums. The works of art on view in this gallery highlight modern and contemporary Egyptian artists’ engagement with ancient Egypt—a topic complex and compelling enough for dedicated exhibitions and book-length studies. Exceptional works by Mahmoud Mokhtar and Mahmoud Saïd, the foundational sculptor and painter, respectively, of Egyptian modernism, revive ancient motifs to promote a national self-image free from colonial interlopers.

Contemporary Egyptian artists engage in both transgressive and traditional forms of appropriation. Iman Issa’s elegant sculpture Heritage Studies #7 (2017) provokes inquiry about the stakes and stewardship of ancient Egyptian artifacts and history. Maha Maamoun’s video and Ghada Amer’s painting convey the resonance of ancient Egyptian icons in popular culture. Two magazine covers separated by decades but similarly featuring women in the guise of Nefertiti raise questions about the intersection of cultural property and identity, as does a new wood sculpture by artist and Met security officer Armia Malak Khalil.

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Kings and Queens

Gallery view of Flight into Egypt

The works in this gallery reflect the tremendous impact of pharaonic statuary and mural decoration on the figurative expression of Black artists from the 1940s to today. Royalty connotes power and cultural value. Modern Black artists appropriated regal motifs, recognizing that ancient Egyptian artists depicted their kings and queens possessing the same brown skin tones demeaned in European and American societies. Works such as Fred Wilson’s serial sculpture Grey Area (Brown version) (1993) powerfully visualize the stakes of the color line in the reception of ancient Egypt. His five replicas of the famed bust of Nefertiti, in hues ranging from beige to dark brown, convey her tremendous significance as a symbol of beauty and empowerment, while raising, but not settling, debates around the racial identity of the dynastic rulers of ancient Egypt.

A number of contemporary works attest to the prevalence of pharaonic imagery in urban Black communities, including Lauren Halsey’s new squared gypsum columns with painted, collaged, and carved surfaces; the photographic cityscape of Genevieve Gaignard’s Kings and Queens (2017); garments from Denim Tears’ 2023 streetwear collection by designer Tremaine Emory; and a selection of volumes commonly available from Afrocentric booksellers.

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Cleopatra, Irene Clark  American, Gouache on plywood board
Irene Clark
ca. 1940–50
Egyptian Heritage, Loïs Mailou Jones  American, Oil on Duratex
Loïs Mailou Jones
1953
Untitled (Girl with Egyptian Mural), Louis Draper  American, Gelatin silver print
Louis Draper
ca. 1965
Nubian Queen, Robert Colescott  American, Acrylic on canvas
Robert Colescott
1966
Relate to Your Heritage, Barbara Jones-Hogu  American, Color screenprint
Barbara Jones-Hogu
1971
Olaifa and Egypt, C. Daniel Dawson  American, Gelatin silver print
C. Daniel Dawson
1978
Window of Ancient Sirens, Betye Saar  American, Paper, paint, feathers, and found objects on wood
Betye Saar
1979
Miscegenated Family Album (Sisters I), L: Nefernefruaten Nefertiti; R: Devonia Evangeline O’Grady, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach print
Lorraine O'Grady
1980/1994
Miscegenated Family Album (Sisters II), L: Nefertiti’s daughter Merytaten; R: Devonia’s daughter, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach print
Lorraine O'Grady
1980/1994
Miscegenated Family Album (Sisters III), L: Nefertiti’s daughter, Maketaten; R: Devonia’s daughter, Kimberley, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach print
Lorraine O'Grady
1980/1994
Miscegenated Family Album (Sisters IV), L: Devonia’s sister, Lorraine; R: Nefertiti’s sister, Mutnedjmet, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach print
Lorraine O'Grady
1980/1994
Ruling for the Child, Lonnie Holley  American, Investment casting materials
Lonnie Holley
1982
Kings of Egypt II, Jean-Michel Basquiat  American, Oil on canvas
Jean-Michel Basquiat
1982
Taharqa King of Nubia (710–664 BC), John Thomas Biggers  American, Poster
John Thomas Biggers
1984
Akhenaten Pharaoh of Egypt (1375–1358 BC), Barbara Higgins Bond  American, Poster
Barbara Higgins Bond
1984
Metu Neter: The Great Oracle of Tehuti and the Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation, Ra Un Nefer Amen  Panamanian
Ra Un Nefer Amen
Khamit Media Trans Visions
1990
Grey Area (Brown version), Fred Wilson  American, Pigment, plaster, and wood
Fred Wilson
1993
Mother's Love, Emory Douglas  American, Pen, ink, color markers, and colored pencils on bond paper
Emory Douglas
1995
Egyptian Yoga: The Philosophy of Enlightenment, Muata Ashby
Muata Ashby
Cruzian Mystic Books
1995
Egyptian Yoga Volume 2: Mysteries of Amun and The Supreme Wisdom of Enlightenment, Muata Ashby
Muata Ashby
Cruzian Mystic Books
1998
Bedford Bowling Center murals, 1980–94: Jamal Lance’s Egypt Symbols in Arches, Menelek III’s Olmec Head, and Kiambu Zawadi’s Three Pharaohs, Janet Braun-Reinitz  American, Inkjet print
Janet Braun-Reinitz
2000, printed 2024
The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors, Frances Cress Welsing  American
Frances Cress Welsing
C. W. Publishing
2004
Untitled (Study for A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby), Kara Walker  American, Charcoal on paper
Kara Walker
2013–14
Negra Es Bella, Robert Pruitt  American, Two-color lithograph
Robert Pruitt
2015
Ancient Still Life, Damien Davis  American, Digital print on cold-press paper
Damien Davis
2015
Suntrust, Shani Crowe  American, Inkjet print
Shani Crowe
2016
Older Queen, Lorna Simpson  American, Found photograph and collage on paper
Lorna Simpson
2017
Kings and Queens, Genevieve Gaignard  American, Chromogenic print
Genevieve Gaignard
2017
Assata Shakur As Ahmes Nefertari, Oasa DuVerney  American, Graphite, gold dust and cuts on paper
Oasa DuVerney
2018
Triangle Pairs with Pharaoh Heads and Nefertiti Recesses, LaKela Brown  American, Plaster
LaKela Brown
2018
Black Egypt, Fred Wilson  American, Postcard
Fred Wilson
2019
He Who Floods the Nile, Karon Davis  American, Plaster cloth, wire, glass eyes, artist’s hair weave, brass beads, gold leaf, black glitter, raw frankincense, wood, and prayers
Karon Davis
2019
Sharifa, Simone Leigh  American, Bronze
Simone Leigh
2022
Tracy's King Tut Belt, Denim Tears  American, Leather and brass
Denim Tears
Tremaine Emory
2023
Tracy's King Tut Vest, Denim Tears  American, Leather and embroidery
Denim Tears
Tremaine Emory
2023
Michelle, Henry Taylor  American, Acrylic on canvas
Henry Taylor
2023
Untitled, Lauren Halsey  American, Watercolor ink, acrylic, auto paint, collage, and gypsum on wood and steel
Lauren Halsey
2024
Untitled, Lauren Halsey  American, Watercolor ink, acrylic, auto paint, collage, and gypsum on wood and steel
Lauren Halsey
2024

Pilgrimage and Fellowship

Gallery view of Flight into Egypt exhibition

This gallery explores how people of the African diaspora have sought to bridge their distance from the continent through travel and within community. Photographs and video document some of the significant journeys of Black cultural figures to Egypt, which represent powerful acts of reclamation. Religious and political leader Malcolm X visited Egypt three times; his subsequent speeches relate his experience of brotherhood with Egyptian nationals and express his conviction that ancient Egypt was proof of a noble ancient Black civilization.

The importance of ancient Egypt in the construction of modern Black identity is evident in the naming, heraldry, ceremonial traditions, and rich material culture of numerous social and religious organizations. Derek Fordjour’s painting is laced with the sphinx-head motifs adopted by Alpha Phi Alpha (est. 1906), the oldest intercollegiate Black fraternity. Pharaonic logos embellish the garments of Black American masonic organizations, including the red fez of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine (est. 1872) and the white gloves of the Daughters of Isis (est. 1910). A hand-forged ceremonial ankh by Baaba Heru Ankh Ra Semahj Se Ptah, meanwhile, exemplifies the revival of ancient Egyptian spiritual practice within the African diaspora.

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Nu Nile Abstraction

Gallery view of the Flight Into Egypt.

The eclectic group of geometric and gestural paintings, sculptures, and works on paper in this gallery, from the 1960s to the present, connect formal and conceptual references to ancient Egypt with facets of contemporary Black experience. Generations of Black artists have been inspired by the sacred sites and unique terrain of Egypt, from the north-flowing Nile to archetypes of ancient Egyptian architecture and monumental sculpture: the obelisk, pyramid, stele, and sarcophagus. William T. Williams’s shimmering silver painting Nu Nile (1973) refers to a popular Black hair product, Murray’s Nu Nile Hair Slick Dressing Pomade, whose name and promise of sleekness evoke diasporic affiliation with the Egyptian river. Works on paper by Sam Gilliam and Houston Conwill also pay homage to the Nile. Among works that revisit the pyramidal form are Maren Hassinger’s vibrant pink installation, Rashid Johnson’s shelf-laden painting, and Sam Gilliam’s plywood and aluminum sculpture. David Hammons’s untitled works of paper laid with Black hair arranged into pyramids merge the modernist grid with essentialist politics. Mildred Thompson’s colorful stacked stele, Terry Adkins’s relief in blue, and Eric Mack’s textile assemblage respond to the minimalism, symmetry, and distinctive palette of ancient Egyptian aesthetics.

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Stele, Mildred Thompson  American, Acrylic on found wood
Mildred Thompson
ca. 1963
Unknown, David Hammons  American, Paper-pulp and hair work on paper
David Hammons
ca. 1977
Unknown, David Hammons  American, Paper-pulp and hair work on paper
David Hammons
ca. 1977
Nile, Sam Gilliam  American, Lithograph
Sam Gilliam
1972
Unknown, David Hammons  American, Paper-pulp and hair work on paper
David Hammons
ca. 1977
Nu Nile, William T. Williams  American, Acrylic on canvas
William T. Williams
1973
Langston Hughes' Rivers, Houston Conwill  American, Screenprint
Multiple artists/makers
1991​
Untited (Egyptian Series), Ed Clark  American, Acrylic and pencil on papyrus
Ed Clark
1997
Love (Pyramid), Maren Hassinger  American, Pink plastic bags filled with air, breath, love notes, and steelhead pushpins
Maren Hassinger
2008/2024
Pyramid, Rashid Johnson  American, Black soap, wax, vinyl, CB radio, brass, books, glass, spray paint, plants, wood, shea butter, and space rocks
Rashid Johnson
2009
Oxidation Blue 1, Terry Adkins  American, Polychrome wood
Terry Adkins
2013
Pyramid, Sam Gilliam  American, Wood, stain, lacquer, and aluminum
Sam Gilliam
2020
See, The Sarcophagus is Moot, Too, Eric N. Mack  American, Silk, wool, cotton, polyester, ribbon, thread, microfiber, velvet, found handkerchief, and denim
Eric N. Mack
2022

Performance Pyramid

Black and blue gallery view of Flight Into Egypt

This gallery displays documentation of works of performance art—an integral aspect of creative expression throughout the African diaspora—animated by ancient Egyptian themes.

The Performance Pyramid also serves as the stage for the following series of live restagings and presentations of new sonic, choreographic, and dramatic works:

Rashida Bumbray
Way Down

Friday, November 15, 2024
3 pm; 7 pm


Kaneza Schaal
GO FORTH

Friday, November 22, 2024
3 pm; 7 pm

Kamau Amu Patton
SEKHET HETEPU

Friday, December 6, 2024
3 pm; 7 pm


Luke Stewart
Blacks’ Myths–“Kemetic Hymns”

Friday, December 13, 2024
3 pm; 7 pm


Clifford Owens
Luxor Solo (Mystical Score for the Ghost of Bud Powell)

Friday, December 20, 2024
3 pm; 7 pm


Steffani Jemison
Recitatif: Perfect Mind

Friday, January 10, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm


Karon Davis
The Resurrection of Osiris

Friday, January 17, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm


Zekkereya El-magharbel
Landscapes of the North East

Friday, January 24, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm


Rashid Johnson with Kahil El’Zabar
Pharaoh’s Song

Friday, January 31, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm


Sidra Bell
G R A P H

Friday, February 7, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm


M. Lamar and The Living Earth Show
Machines & Other Intergalactic Technologies of The Spirit

Friday, February 14, 2025
3 pm; 7 pm

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Nefertiti/Devonia Evangeline: Told to swing an incense censer, she stirs sand instead, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach prints
Lorraine O'Grady
Freda Leinwand
1981, printed 2018
Nefertiti/Devonia Evangeline: You are protected, and you shall not die, Lorraine O'Grady  American, Silver dye bleach prints
Lorraine O'Grady
Freda Leinwand
1981, printed 2018
Flyer for Flying, Maren Hassinger  American, Xerox print
Multiple artists/makers
1982
Flying, performed with Juana Nash, Lofty Amono, “Nastyee,” and N'Dugu Jungles at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, Maren Hassinger  American, Chromogenic print
Multiple artists/makers
1982, printed 2019
Flying, performed with Juana Nash, Lofty Amono, “Nastyee,” and N'Dugu Jungles at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, Maren Hassinger  American, Chromogenic print
Multiple artists/makers
1982, printed 2019
Flying, performed with Juana Nash, Lofty Amono, “Nastyee,” and N'Dugu Jungles at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, Maren Hassinger  American, Chromogenic print
Multiple artists/makers
1982, printed 2019
Flying, performed with Juana Nash, Lofty Amono, “Nastyee,” and N'Dugu Jungles at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, Maren Hassinger  American, Chromogenic print
Multiple artists/makers
1982, printed 2019
Obelisks in Rome, Terry Adkins  American, Video, black and white, silent, 46 min., 10 sec.
Terry Adkins
2010
Luxor Solo (Mystical Score for the Ghost of Bud Powell), Terry Adkins  American, Printer ink on paper
Terry Adkins
Clifford Owens
2011, printed 2024
Kamau Amu Patton performing “Amun (The Unseen Legends)” at An Evening with Kamau Amu Patton, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gregston Hurdle  Barbadian American, Inkjet print
Gregston Hurdle
2017, printed 2024
Orion's Rise, Solange Knowles  American, Chromogenic print in artist-made frame
Solange Knowles
2018, printed 2024
Luxor Solo (Mystical Score for the Ghost of Bud Powell), Clifford Owens  American, Live performance
Clifford Owens
2024
GO FORTH, Kaneza Schaal  American, Live performance
Kaneza Schaal
2024
SEKHET HETEPU, Kamau Amu Patton  American, Live performance
Kamau Amu Patton
2024
Untitled (How High The Moon), Rashida Bumbray  American, Video, color, sound, 10 min.
Rashida Bumbray
2024
Way Down, Rashida Bumbray  American, Live performance
Rashida Bumbray
2024
Blacks’ Myths–“Kemetic Hymns”, Luke Stewart  American, Live performance
Luke Stewart
2024
Recitatif: Perfect Mind, Steffani Jemison  American, Live performance
Steffani Jemison
2025
The Resurrection of Osiris, Karon Davis  American, Live performance
Karon Davis
2025
Machines & Other Intergalactic Technologies of The Spirit, M. Lamar and The Living Earth Show, Live performance
M. Lamar and The Living Earth Show
2025
Pharaoh's Song, Rashid Johnson  American, Live performance
Rashid Johnson
Kahil El’Zabar
2025
Landscapes of the North East, Zekkereya El-magharbel  Egyptian-American, Live performance
Zekkereya El-magharbel
2025
G R A P H, Sidra Bell  American, Live performance
Sidra Bell
2025

A New Song

Gallery view of Flight into Egypt.

This gallery traces a history, from the 1930s to now, of Black musical engagement with ancient Egypt. From cover art to lyrical content, the thirty-three selected albums on view here evince its enduring allure. Some designs depict key sites, while others, such as Nas’s I am . . . (1999), portray the musical protagonist in ancient Egyptian guise. Music has been not only a source of entertainment but also a vehicle for the empowerment of Black performers and audiences. A captivating poster for the 1934 Chicago theatrical production “O, Sing a New Song” promises a spectacular musical journey set in ancient Egypt, with an all-Black cast—a feature reflecting Black solidarity during an era of both legal and de facto racial segregation. In 1957 Black American soprano Leontyne Price broke barriers when she, rather than a white woman in blackface, as is traditional, debuted in the operatic role of the Egyptian princess Aida.

The adjacent gallery is immersed in light and sound by Awol Erizku’s dazzling disco bust of Nefertiti and features screened excerpts of music-related videos, including Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s award-winning documentary film.

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"O Sing a New Song", Charles Clarence Dawson  American, Color lithograph
Charles Clarence Dawson
ca. 1933
Pyramid, Modern Jazz Quartet, Record
Modern Jazz Quartet
1960
Aïda, Leontyne Price  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1962
Slim and Sphinx, Slim Aarons  American, Chromogenic print
Slim Aarons
1964, printed 2024
Nefertiti, Miles Davis  American, Record
Miles Davis
Bob Cato
1968
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come, Cecil Taylor Jazz Unit, Record
Cecil Taylor Jazz Unit
1969
“Alice Coltrane,” Black Journal, episode 26, Alice Coltrane  American, Video, color, sound, 2 min., 52 sec. (excerpt)
Alice Coltrane
Stan Lathan
1970
Ptah, the El Daoud, Alice Coltrane  American, Record
Alice Coltrane
Jim Evans
1970
Awakening, The Pharaohs, Record
The Pharaohs
Berry Horton
1971/1996
Alkebu-Lan: Land of the Blacks, Mtume Umoja Ensemble, Record
Mtume Umoja Ensemble
Wabembe
1972
Horizon, Sun Ra  American, Record
Sun Ra
1972/2020
It’s Nation Time—African Visionary Music, Amiri Baraka  American, Record
Amiri Baraka
Fundi
1972
Nubian Lady, Roy Meriwether  American, Record
Roy Meriwether
Joan M. Loykovich
1973
Cosmic Vortex - Justice Divine, Weldon Irvine  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1974
Tutankhamun, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Record
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Hamish Grimes
1974
Spirit, Earth, Wind & Fire, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1976
African Queens, The Ritchie Family, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1977
All ’n All, Earth, Wind & Fire, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1977
Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, Earth, Wind & Fire, Record
Earth, Wind & Fire
Shusei Nagaoka
1978
Since Before Our Time, Osiris, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1979
Trombipulation, Parliament, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1980
7th Wonder, Thunder, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1980
As One, The Bar-Kays, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1980
Nights Over Egypt, The Jones Girls, Record
The Jones Girls
1981
Perambulator, Fela Kuti and Egypt 80, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1983
On the Nile, The Egyptian Lover  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1984
Babylon the Bandit, Steel Pulse, Record
Steel Pulse
Neville Garrick
1985
Freak-A-Holic, The Egyptian Lover  American, Video, color, sound, 1 min., 36 sec. (excerpt)
The Egyptian Lover
1986
Africa, Pharoah Sanders  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1987
Eye Know, De La Soul, Record
De La Soul
1989
Remember the Time, Michael Jackson  American, Video, color, sound, 2 min., 4 sec. (excerpts)
Michael Jackson
1991
Funke Funke Wisdom, Kool Moe Dee  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1991
Xodus (The New Testament), XClan, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1992
Next Lifetime, Erykah Badu  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1997
I Am…, Nas  American, Record
Multiple artists/makers
1999
Back on the Planet, Ras G and The Afrikan Space Program, Record
Ras G and The Afrikan Space Program
Stephen Serrato
2013
Nefertiti–Miles Davis, Awol Erizku  American, Hand-coated foam and mirrored tile
Awol Erizku
2017
Queen, Nicki Minaj  Trinidadian, Record
Nicki Minaj
Mert and Marcus
2018
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter  American, Video, color, sound, 4 min., 14 sec. (excerpt)
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
2019
Father of 4, Offset  American, Record
Offset
Pep Williams
2019
The Past and Other Dreams, Kamau Amu Patton  American, Double audio cassette
Kamau Amu Patton
Experimental Sound Studio
2020

Space Is the Place

Gallery view of Flight Into Egypt

The artworks on view in this gallery meld ancient Egyptian myth, modern science, and science fiction. In the epic and influential 1974 film Space Is the Place, artist, musician, and poet Sun Ra stars as a messianic extraterrestrial recruiting Black Americans to join a utopian space community inspired by the aesthetics of ancient Egypt.

Sun Ra recognized and amplified the inherently cosmic characteristics of ancient Egyptian art in his creative visions, as have many artists in his wake. Ancient obelisks emblematized the projection of the sun’s rays toward earth; Dream The Combine’s inverted obelisk here connotes movement from the earth to the stars. Works by Jeff Donaldson, Julie Mehretu, and Lauren Halsey evoke the advanced, code-like system of hieroglyphs. Former NASA engineer Fred Eversley’s lens-grade plexiglass pyramid and Tavares Strachan’s gilded satellite manifest ancient astral aspirations. In a photomontage, the time-traveling Afrocentric superheroine alter-ego of artist Renee Cox soars protectively over the Giza monuments. Photographs of murals by Ayé Aton, a percussionist in Sun Ra’s Arkestra, and an elaborate print by Ellen Gallagher extend Sun Ra’s creative universe. 

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Untitled, Ayé Aton  American, Chromogenic print
Ayé Aton
ca. 1975
Untitled (wall mural), Ayé Aton  American, Chromogenic print
Ayé Aton
1972
Space Is the Place, John Coney, Video, sound, color, 5 min., 43 sec. (excerpts)
Multiple artists/makers
1974
Untitled (gold layered step pyramid), Fred Eversley  American, Clear acrylic and gold-plated aluminum
Fred Eversley
1983
Message from Tehuti, Jeff Donaldson  American, Acrylic on canvas
Jeff Donaldson
1988
Rajé to the Rescue, Renee Cox  Jamaican-American, Inkjet print on Dibond
Renee Cox
1998, printed 2024
Abu Simbel, Ellen Gallagher  American, Photogravure, etching, scraping, aquatint, and drypoint, with watercolor, color pencil, varnish, pomade, Plasticine, synthetic fur, gold leaf, and red and white crystals
Ellen Gallagher
Two Palms Press
2005–2006
ENOCH (display unit), Tavares Strachan  Bahamian, Bronze, 24k gold, steel, radar retroreflectors and sacred air blessed by Shinto priest
Tavares Strachan
2015–17
FreedomEx, Lauren Halsey  American, Gypsum on wood
Lauren Halsey
2022
Pyramidion, Dream The Combine (Jennifer Newsom, American, born 1979, and Tom Carruthers, Canadian, born 1978), Aluminized Mylar, Kevlar, bronze, stainless steel, and LEDs
Dream The Combine (Jennifer Newsom, American, born 1979, and Tom Carruthers, Canadian, born 1978)
2024

Exeunt

Exit gallery view of Flight Into Egypt exhibition.

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The Open Secret, Houston Conwill  American, Bronze relief, located at New York City Transit 125th Street station (4, 5, 6)
Houston Conwill
commissioned 1984, unveiled 1986
Message from Malcolm, Maren Hassinger  American, Mosaic tile, located at New York City Transit Central Park North–110th Street station (2, 3)
Maren Hassinger
1998
Harlem Encore, Terry Adkins  American, Aluminum panels, located at Metro North Railroad Harlem–125th Street station
Terry Adkins
1999
Nefertiti (Black Power), Awol Erizku  American, Neon light on coated stainless steel
Awol Erizku
2018

Plan Your Visit

Dates
Through February 17
Free with Museum admission
A series of nefertiti busts transitions from historical to contemporary styles, symbolizing the evolution of art influenced by ancient egypt from 1876 to the present, titled "flight into egypt and ancient artists.