![\"Armstrong](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790891532_766_Armstrong_in_Ghana_146ae2b9-1105-4fb2-ae5d-9f8446fdc561.jpg\")
Showcases the Legacy of Global Jazz Icon Navigating Cultural and Political Complexities of the 1950s and 1960s<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Showcases the Legacy of Global Jazz Icon Navigating Cultural and Political Complexities of the 1950s and 1960s<\/p>\n
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Queens, NY (October 1, 2026) – Today, The Louis Armstrong House Museum<\/a> opens Armstrong in Ghana<\/a>, a compelling exhibition at the Louis Armstrong Center. The exhibition explores the American and global icon navigating cultural and political complexities as he toured his music throughout the world in the 1950s and 1960s. This year-long, limited engagement, archival and contemporary art exhibition will travel with partners in Accra.<\/p>\n
The 60,000-piece Armstrong Archive<\/a> includes an array of artifacts, recordings, pictures and documents pertaining to his tour through Africa, including the Gold Coast as it transitioned out of British colonial control to a newly independent Ghana. The new exhibition, curated by Executive Director Regina Bain<\/a>, will utilize these archival items, alongside established works by artists such as Kaloki Nyamai, Aaron Douglas and John Biggers. New commissioned work by artists such as Stephen Towns and Rita Mawuena Benissan will also debut throughout the year. The commissions will explore the reciprocal impact of Armstrong\u2019s travels to the newly independent nation.<\/p>\n
Ghana was a unique destination in Armstrong\u2019s travels where he experienced a powerful feeling of belonging and is the only African country he returned to more than once. Armstrong in Ghana is an opportunity to activate shared histories across the African diaspora.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first learned of Louis Armstrong\u2019s travels to Ghana I felt an immediate pull,\u201d says curator Regina Bain. \u201cI wanted to know more. What was it like for Armstrong, the megastar, to travel to Ghana in the midst of the independence and freedom movements of both countries? How is that experience reflective of the many African Americans past and present who have engaged in similar journeys? And what does it mean, with specificity, when people say the roots of jazz are in Africa? Curating this exhibition has set me on a personal journey as a Black woman, as an artist, and as a seeker of stories. Through this exhibition, I hope our guests will make their own connections, conduct their own archival sleuthing, stand in front of a work of art, listen to glorious sound, or dance into a new understanding of Louis Armstrong\u2019s legacy and how independence and freedom lives within them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building upon the successful Armstrong Now<\/a> residency and signature programs, the project will engage with contemporary musicians and visual artists to share their work in New York and Accra, following in Armstrong\u2019s footsteps. Established and newly commissioned musical performances by Chief Adjuah, Keweku Sumbry, and The Ghana Jazz Collective alongside dance performances by Latasha Barnes and Edmund Boateng Akrofi will take place throughout the year. Concurrently, established and newly commissioned visual artwork by Kaloki Nyamai, Rita Mawuena Benissan, John Biggers, Betty Acquah, J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije, Aaron Douglas, and more will feature throughout the exhibit\u2019s duration. Transformative voices like Maya Angelou will also be included in the exhibit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panel talks and workshops from the museum\u2019s education and artistic partners including Fredara Hadley, Penny von Eschen, Odile Tevie, Charlotte Ashamu, Ricky Riccardi, John Collins, Samuel Boateng and others will expand on the ideas within the exhibition. Experiences will include listening sessions of the live recording from Armstrong\u2019s 1956 concert at the Accra Opera House from the archives, discussions of the historical context for Armstrong\u2019s visit and the African roots of Jazz, artist talks with the visual artists within the exhibition, and live showings of new performance works.<\/p>\n
Bruce Harris<\/a>, Program Director, shares \u201cArmstrong Now in Ghana feels like a homecoming \u2014 for Louis, for jazz, and for the culture that connects us across the African diaspora. There\u2019s a personal connection for me, too. When I first interviewed for my position at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, I had just made my first trip to Ghana. I had no idea that one day I\u2019d be helping bring Louis\u2019s story back there. In a way, I feel Pops has a hand in guiding the moves we make as an organization. Ghana has become like a second home to me, and it\u2019s meaningful to be part of an exhibition that honors Louis\u2019s connection to the country and invites people to discover how his legacy continues to connect us.\u201d<\/p>\n
After its debut at The Armstrong Center, planned exhibition sites for Armstrong in Ghana include the Nubuke Foundation in Fall 2027. Nubuke is a Ghanaian contemporary art and cultural institution based in East Legon, Accra, and Wa, Upper West region. Founded in 2006, the Foundation serves as a nexus for preserving, recording, and promoting contemporary arts and culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ABOUT LOUIS ARMSTRONG HOUSE MUSEUM\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Louis Armstrong House Museum is\u00a0 a three building campus, encompassing Armstrong\u2019s historic home, Armstrong Center, and Selma\u2019s Place \u2013 the donated home of Selma Heraldo,\u00a0 a close friend and neighbor of the Armstrongs. The museum offers guided tours of the trumpeter\u2019s historic home, giving visitors an inside look into the life he and his wife Lucille led alongside the Corona Queens community. The Center champions musicians and artists alike through their Armstrong Now Artist-in-Residence Program – where artists are given the opportunity to research and rehearse new work based on thematic content provided from the Armstrong Archives. Previous residents include Samara Joy, Immanuel Wilkins, Soul Science Lab, esperanza spalding, Steven Salcedo and more. Moreover, the Center integrates their work with local Queens residents through community activations including a year-round young trumpet learning program and their Justice Arts initiative for formerly incarcerated youth. For ticketing and more information, visit www.louisarmstronghouse.org<\/a>. LAHM administers the historic house under a long-term license agreement with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Queens College.<\/p>\n
Photo:\u00a0Photograph in Armstrong in Ghana Exhibit (Courtesy of the Louis Armstrong House Museum)<\/p>\n
LOUIS ARMSTRONG HOUSE MUSEUM:<\/p>\n
WEBSITE<\/a> | INSTAGRAM<\/a> | TWITTER<\/a> | FACEBOOK<\/a><\/p>\n
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