Join Alisa LaGamma, Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Curator for African Art and Curator in Charge of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, and assistant curator Jenny Peruski, along with Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, and special guests Manthia Diawara and Angélique Kidjo to celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Arts of Africa galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.
In this new chapter, the Arts of Africa galleries foreground the creativity of artists across the subcontinent, shifting the narrative to focus on artworks within their original contexts and as masterpieces in their own right. The reinstallation celebrates the authorship of recognized masters, from renowned sculptor Ọlọ́wẹ̀ of Ìsẹ̀ (ca. 1873–1938) to contemporary photographer Seydou Keïta (ca. 1921–2001). As part of this new presentation, refined ivories commissioned by Portuguese merchants from early Temne and Bullom artisans are positioned at the threshold to adjacent European galleries, and a traditional Kente cloth sits across from a contemporary sculptural tapestry, placing these artworks in visual dialogue with each other across time and space. This reintroduction of the Arts of Africa galleries highlights that these historical traditions are enduring but also dynamic, distinctive but interconnected, and a continuing source of inspiration for artists and visitors today.
