Open 10-5:30 daily. Admission is always FREE. | Directions | Plan your Visit

National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution

.

Mask
Headrest
Mask
Photograph
Toussaint Louverture
National Museum of African Art

Happy 60th Birthday NMAfA!

Mask
Headrest
Mask
Photograph
Toussaint Louverture
What’s on view
Slide
Bruce Onobrakpeya – The Mask and the Cross
Bruce Onobrakpeya – The Mask and the Cross

Celebrated Nigerian sculptor and printmaker Bruce Onobrakpeya began creating works depicting Christian iconography in 1966, when Catholic priests petitioned the artist to interpret the Passion of Christ. The resulting body of work, titled Fourteen Stations of the Cross, was well received, and Onobrakpeya continued to produce relief, print, and mural commissions for Catholic priests and parishes through 1978. Originally presented by the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), Bruce Onobrakpeya: The Mask and the Cross showcases the earliest of these commissions, from the late 1960s, with the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s special presentation foregrounding the artist’s commissions in print.

Slide
Bruce Onobrakpeya – La Máscara y la Cruz
Bruce Onobrakpeya – La Máscara y la Cruz

El reconocido escultor y grabador nigeriano Bruce Onobrakpeya comenzó a crear obras que representaban la iconografía cristiana en 1966, cuando unos sacerdotes católicos le encargaron que interpretara la Pasión de Cristo. El resultado fue un conjunto de obras, titulado Las catorce estaciones de la cruz, que fue bien recibido. Onobrakpeya siguió produciendo encargos de relieves, grabados y murales para sacerdotes y parroquias católicos hasta 1978. Presentada originalmente por el High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), Bruce Onobrakpeya: La máscara y la cruz exhibe los primeros de estos encargos, desde finales de la década de los sesenta, con la presentación especial del Smithsonian National Museum of African Art que pone en relieve los grabados encargados al artista.

Benin Bronzes: Ambassadors of the Oba / Bronces de Benín Embajadores Del Oba
Benin Bronzes: Ambassadors of the Oba / Bronces de Benín Embajadores Del Oba
Benin Bronzes: Ambassadors of the Oba / Bronces de Benín Embajadores Del Oba

The National Museum of African Art worked with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and the Benin City National Museum to identify, and ultimately transfer, ownership of 29 objects. With permission from the kingdom of Benin, nine of these objects are now on long-term loan to the museum; the other 20 have been returned to Nigeria.
—————
El Museo Nacional de Arte Africano trabajó con la Comisión Nacional de Museos y Monumentos de Nigeria (NCMM) y con el Museo Nacional de la Ciudad de Benín para identificar —y, en última instancia, transferir— la propiedad de 29 objetos. Actualmente, con el permiso del reino de Benín, nueve de estos objetos se encuentran en préstamo a largo plazo en el museo, y los otros 20 se han devuelto a Nigeria.

From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson
From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson
From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson

For her first monographic exhibition, acclaimed photographer Ayana V. Jackson was inspired by the Detroit-based 1990s techno band Drexciya (musicians James Stinson and Gerald Donald) whose albums imagined a mythical aquatopia populated by descendants of pregnant African women thrown (or who jumped) overboard into the Atlantic Ocean during the Middle Passage. In this exhibition, Jackson expands her practice to include animation, immersive video, installation, sound, and scent. She creates a series of haunting, yet profoundly beautiful and empowering encounters that draw upon African water spirits from Senegal to South Africa.

John Akomfrah: Five Murmurations
John Akomfrah: Five Murmurations
John Akomfrah: Five Murmurations

Internationally renowned artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah addresses the global COVID-19 pandemic, murder of George Floyd, and worldwide protests in support of Black Lives Matter in this visual essay of our times. Drawing upon an extensive archive of images that mix iconic works of art with scenes shot and gathered in the globally fraught 18-month period between 2019 and 2021, Five Mumurations considers Akomfrah’s insights into post-colonialism, diasporic experience, and memory.

Before Nollywood . . . The Ideal Photo Studio
Before Nollywood . . . The Ideal Photo Studio
Before Nollywood . . . The Ideal Photo Studio

Before Nollywood . . . The Ideal Photo Studio is a living exhibition and an ongoing research and photography project that explores the lives of patrons from the Ideal Photo Studio and a history of Benin City and its community through the photographs of Solomon Osagie Alonge. We are seeking your help in naming people in the Ideal Photo Studio portraits, and inviting you to share personal stories and memories of your childhood, friends, family, social life, and community in Benin City, Nigeria, at the Tapestry of Benin Memories wall.

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts, the National Museum of African Art’s most recent, large-scale presentation of its collection, is the first to offer broad thematic connections between artworks across the spectrum of time, place, and medium. Visionary aims to get visitors to look with fresh and focused insight and, in so doing, to see works of art—and each other—with new eyes.

Currents: Water in African ArtWater is in all of us—to live, we need water to drink. Featuring artworks from the museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition proves that water is one of most potent forces on earth. Its currents flow through myths, metaphors, and rituals. Diverse and wide-ranging in material, time period, style, and intended use, the objects in this exhibition span the continent of Africa to explore the importance of water for both practical and artistic purposes.
Currents: Water in African Art
Currents: Water in African Art

Water is in all of us—to live, we need water to drink. Featuring artworks from the museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition proves that water is one of most potent forces on earth. Its currents flow through myths, metaphors, and rituals. Diverse and wide-ranging in material, time period, style, and intended use, the objects in this exhibition span the continent of Africa to explore the importance of water for both practical and artistic purposes.

previous arrow
next arrow
News, upcoming events and new exhibitions!