In 2023, Ethiopian-American multidisciplinary artist Tsedaye Makonnen contributed multiple textiles from her series Astral Sea to The Met‘s Africa & Byzantium exhibition. As part of the exhibition, Makonnen and several collaborators activated the textiles with “The Need for Collective Refuge,” a new site-specific performance that journeyed through the history of the Byzantine Era‘s African diaspora.
Now, we‘re thrilled to share this unique processional meditation on resilience, memory and migration, which merges spiritual, ceremonial, and performative elements of the Astral Sea series and explores the power of collective action and the potential for a better future.
Recorded on Thursday, February 29, 2024 in Gallery 199 and Gallery 548, The Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court.
The exhibition Africa & Byzantium was made possible by the Ford Foundation, The Giorgi Family Foundation, and Mary Jaharis.
Major support for Africa & Byzantium was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Additional support was provided by an Anonymous Foundation, the Michel David-Weill Fund, The International Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Visiting Committee for the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
