{"id":188338,"date":"2026-04-07T15:05:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/188338\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T15:05:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:05:36","slug":"brooklyn-museums-african-art-collection-to-get-huge-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/188338\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Museum\u2019s African Art Collection to Get Huge Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rendering\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s new Arts of Africa Galleries. (Photo: Peterson Rich Office)<\/p>\n

Since it began collecting African art in the early 20th century, the Brooklyn Museum<\/a> has accumulated more than 4,500 pieces from across the continent. All told, the collection stands as one of the largest and most comprehensive in the United States, but that fact isn\u2019t necessarily apparent to visitors. The museum is now looking to change that through an ambitious $13 million renovation.<\/p>\n

This spring, construction will officially begin on a new 6,400-square-foot gallery, offering a new home for the museum\u2019s renowned Arts of Africa collection<\/a>. The space, whose design is spearheaded by the Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office<\/a> (PRO), will showcase about 300 works from the collection and span some 2,500 years of history. Complete with an airy atmosphere and high ceilings, this permanent installation will direct greater attention toward lighting, wall placement, and casework to fully celebrate the collection\u2019s breadth and beauty. Previous displays, by contrast, were \u201con the ground floor in these low-ceilinged spaces,\u201d per the museum\u2019s director, Anne Pasternak. \u201cIt was not a dignified place,\u201d she adds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What truly distinguishes the new gallery, though, is its decolonial ethos. Rather than grouping objects based on present-day borders\u2014many of which were established during European colonization during the 19th and 20th centuries\u2014the space unfolds geographically. Regions of focus include the Nile and Niger Rivers, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, the Loango Coast, and the Sahara desert.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to highlight transcultural interactions\u2014what happens when different communities and cultural entities were talking to each other,\u201d Annissa Malvoisin, an associate curator at the Brooklyn Museum, recently told The New York Times. Aside from being a curator, Malvoisin is also a scholar of ancient African art with a specialization in Egyptian and Nubian art.<\/p>\n

By effectively forgoing these colonial models, then, the museum seeks to visualize not just the artistic networks within Africa, but also the continent\u2019s relationship with Asia, Europe, and the Americas across time. Historical and contemporary art<\/a> exemplify these global exchanges, with featured works hailing from the African diaspora and from the places to which enslaved people were taken. Beyond this, Islamic and Christian visual traditions will be explored as well, resulting in a nuanced portrait of African artistic production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diaspora is Africa\u2019s story,\u201d says Ernestine White-Mifetu, the curator of the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s Arts of Africa department. \u201cWe can\u2019t just focus on the African part and negate that important journey that millions of people took.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also challenged is the historical separation between North Africa and the rest of the African continent. Ancient Egyptian art, for example, will be more clearly united with the museum\u2019s larger collection, thanks in large part to the new gallery\u2019s location. Nestled beside the ancient Egypt section on the third floor, visitors can seamlessly travel between the two galleries, revitalizing rather than segregating the connections throughout the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always bewildering to me that those collections are so separate,\u201d Pasternak says. \u201cI think especially in a place like Brooklyn, that framing reads as racist.\u201d<\/p>\n

White-Mifetu and Malvoisin echoed the sentiment<\/a> in Hyperallergic: \u201cThe museum is already doing this work throughout the building, so this connection feels natural both contextually and realistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, the new gallery will repurpose underutilized storage space, providing additional avenues through which to engage with art history. \u201cI\u2019m a big believer in less storage, more galleries,\u201d Pasternak concludes. \u201cPeople deserve to see masterpieces, and they deserve to see their cultures represented with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

To stay updated about the new Arts of Africa gallery, visit the Brooklyn Museum website<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

This spring, the Brooklyn Museum will break ground on a $13 million renovation to add a new 6,400-square-foot gallery for its renowned African art collection.
\n\"Rendering\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s new Arts of Africa Galleries. (Photo: Peterson Rich Office)<\/p>\n

\"Rendering\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s new Arts of Africa Galleries. (Photo: Peterson Rich Office)<\/p>\n

The gallery will offer a permanent home for the museum\u2019s more than 4,500-piece collection, all while visualizing the transcultural connections across the African continent and beyond.
\n\"Chokwe\"Chokwe<\/p>\n

Chokwe artist, \u201cTesa Ya Ma Kanya\u201d (Snuff Container). Northeast Angola or Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 19th century. Wood, iron, and fiber. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)<\/p>\n

\"Gora\"Gora<\/p>\n

Gora Mbengue, \u201cAl-Buraq,\u201d 1975. Glass and paint. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum \u00a9 Estate of Gora Mbengue)<\/p>\n

\"Yor\u00f9b\u00e1\"Yor\u00f9b\u00e1<\/p>\n

Yor\u00f9b\u00e1 artist, \u201cPaka Eg\u00fang\u00fan\u201c (Masquerade Dance Costume). Lekew\u1ecdgb\u1eb9 compound, \u00d2gb\u00f3m\u1ecd\u0300\u1e63\u1ecd\u0301, \u1ecc\u0300y\u1ecd\u0301 State, Nigeria, ca. 1920\u201348. Cotton, wool, wood, silk, synthetic textiles, indigo, and aluminum. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Museum: Website<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: The Brooklyn Museum Embarks on Major Building Project to Create Permanent Galleries for Its Arts of Africa Collection<\/a>
\nMy Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by the Brooklyn Museum.
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