(New York, May 21, 2025)–On Saturday, May 31, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will commemorate the official reopening of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing with an exciting day of festivities. The festival celebrates the public’s first chance to explore the newly reimagined galleries for the arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania, following a multiyear renovation, and will feature live music, art-making activities, performances, film screenings, artist demonstrations and workshops, food experiences, and more across the Museum’s Fifth Avenue location and outside on The Met’s plaza. The event is for all ages, and programming will be offered in multiple languages. All outdoor events are free; indoor events are free with Museum admission and no registration is required.
“This celebration for the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing reflects the extraordinary spirit of creativity and community that is so essential to The Met and New York City itself,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO. “After four years of transformation, we are delighted to welcome everyone to celebrate this reopening with a festival that will offer opportunities for art lovers of all ages to experience the historic reimagining of these collections through the objects, ideas, music, and dance of the cultures represented in the galleries.”
Opening day begins with a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 9 to 10:30 am, and festival activities will take place across the Museum from 12 to 6 pm Festival highlights will include:
- Queens Night Market: Vendors and independent chefs from Queens Night Market will participate in the festival, offering specially curated pre-colonial menus inspired by the wing’s collections and histories. Chefs with indigenous ancestries or deep local roots will each present carefully researched dishes from Sierra Leone to Nigeria, Ethiopia to Hawaii, New Zealand to Peru, and beyond. Made-to-order meals made mainly without post-colonial ingredients will be served from 1pm to 6 pm, giving visitors a rare opportunity to taste culinary history.
- Art making with contemporary artists: Renowned visual artist Manny Vega will host a workshop on the David H. Koch Plaza, in partnership with The Clemente, responding to artwork from The Met collection to craft mosaic and personal emblems. These creations will form a large-scale communal artwork designed by Vega, capturing the diverse and personal diasporic pathways that intersect in New York City. Additionally, artists Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez and Teokotā’i Paitai will demonstrate weaving techniques from Peru and Oceania, inviting visitors to create their own work. Other activities will include drum-making workshops and a collaboration on a community mural.
- Community Hub: Outside on the plaza, visitors can engage with New York City’s diverse communities through the work of community-based organizations that celebrate cultural heritage and creativity, including Artistic Noise, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI), Cetiliztli Nauhcampa, Hālāwai NYC, FORGOTTEN LANDS, Pachamama Peruvian Arts, and Pacific Island Film Festival of NYC.
- Global rhythms throughout the Museum: Visitors will experience music and dance from Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, including a spirited showcase of traditional Hawaiian and Tahitian dances by Te Ao Mana; the electrifying beats of MAX Percussion’s Senegalese drumming; Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation’s Youth Ensemble in a spirited performance of traditional West African dances; and the rich, soulful melodies of Mariachi Real de México. The day will also feature lively music and engaging dialogue about Hawaiian hula dance with renowned hula instructor Snowbird Bento; a performance by Famoro Dioubaté, one of West Africa’s balafon maestros; dance workshops with Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance; and a talk by Mario Ulibarri and performance of the canción bolero by José Adán Pérez (voice), Ulibarri (guitarrón), Ramon Ponce (guitar), and Jairo Marín (Requinto).
Met curators, artists, and scholars will be available throughout the afternoon to share insights about the newly renovated galleries along with their expertise about the Museum’s collections from Africa, the ancient Americas, and Oceania. Ethiopian-American filmmaker Sosena Solomon will present a series of films she directed capturing Africa’s distinctive cultural landmarks developed by the Metropolitan for the new Africa galleries in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund (WMF). She will be joined by regional experts featured in the films for an engaging conversation that delves into these powerful narratives.
The celebration will culminate with a presentation by architect Kulapat Yantrasast, founder of WHY Architecture, who will be joined in conversation with The Met’s Director and CEO, Max Hollein, to discuss the design approach for the reimagining of the wing, offering behind-the-scenes insights into this transformative renovation and exploring the evolving role of architecture in museums today.
For a full list of activities and programs, visit The Met’s website. Registration is required for some programs.
Credits
We thank all who have made possible the renovation of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, including leadership commitments from The Carson Family Charitable Trust, Kyveli and George Economou, Bobby Kotick, Drs. Daniel and Marian Malcolm, Adam Lindemann and Amalia Dayan, Samuel H. and Linda M. Lindenbaum, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie, The Marron Family, Naddisy Foundation, the City of New York, the Estate of Abby M. O’Neill, Andrall E. Pearson and Rappaport Family, the Estate of Ruth J. Prager, Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer, Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor and Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Alejandro and Charlotte Santo Domingo, and the Skarstedt Family. Major support was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lockwood Chilton, Jr., Mariana and Raymond Herrmann, Mary R. Morgan, and Laura G. and James J. Ross.
Events and programming related to the reopening of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing are made possible by the Breyer Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Thompson Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by Stephen M. Cutler and Wendy N. Zimmermann, Kyveli and George Economou, Ed and Dale Mathias, the Mex-Am Cultural Foundation Inc., and two anonymous donors.
About The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
The Met’s Michael C. Rockefeller Wing includes the three distinct collections—the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania—displaying them as discrete elements in an overarching wing that is in dialogue with the Museum’s collection as a whole.
The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than 11,000 works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 BCE to the present. Highlights include decorative and ceremonial objects from the Court of Benin in Nigeria; sculpture from West and Central Africa; images of gods, ancestors, and spirits from New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Island Southeast Asia; and objects of gold, ceramic, and stone from the pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico and Central and South America.
Opening May 31, 2025, following a multiyear renovation led by WHY Architecture in collaboration with Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects LLP and The Met’s Design Department, the reimagined galleries have been designed to transform the visitor experience and incorporate innovative technologies that allow The Met to display objects in new ways. In galleries dedicated to each of the distinct collection areas, design elements reference and pay homage to the architectural vernaculars of each region.