MoMA to Stage Major Exhibition on Mid-Century African Modernism, Centered on the Concept of ‘Emancipatory Art’
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York will present “Freedom and Futures: Emancipatory Art in Africa, 1956–1982” from May 2 to August 14, 2027, a thematic exhibition on mid-century African modernism. Curated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi with Erica DiBenedetto, it will include around 250 objects, including 40 from MoMA’s collection, and will examine how artists engaged with decolonization and political independence across the period. Nzewi said the 1956–1982 timeframe reflects staggered independence timelines, citing Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan gaining independence in 1956 and Zimbabwe in 1980. He also linked the project to MoMA’s early engagement with African modernism, including its 1960 acquisition of Sam Ntiro’s 1956 painting Men Taking Banana Beer to Bride by Night, and to key gatherings such as the 1956 Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris created by Alioune Diop of Présence Africaine.
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This story was covered in Icons Fall, Museums Wobble, Art World Under Watch