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.
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.
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.
Commissioned from internationally renowned artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, the installation of Wind Sculpture VIIat the entrance to our museum promises to mark a new landmark of public art on the National Mall. The ship-sail shapes of Shonibare’s Wind Sculpture series, painted to appear like his trademark wax-print cloth material, evoke cross-continental connections—in history, in trade, in politics, in ideas, and in contemporary art.
