Harlem Renaissance exhibition opens in New York

An exhibition on the Harlem Renaissance, the first African American art movement, opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

“The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism,” an exhibition comprising 160 works including paintings, photographs, sculptures and films about the Harlem Renaissance, the first international modern art movement of African Americans, will open on Feb. 25 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the U.S.

Considered the first comprehensive study of the Harlem Renaissance in New York since 1987, the museum officials who spearheaded the exhibition describe the Harlem Renaissance, which emerged in the 1920s as the first African American movement in modern international art.

“This exhibition is an important celebration, examination and overview of the Harlem Renaissance,”  CEO and Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum Max Hollein told Anadolu Agency.

“You will see Duke Ellington performing at the Cotton Club and Cab Calloway dancing while conducting an orchestra,” said Denise Murrell, the exhibition curator, in her opening speech.

Murell said the exhibition could help fill a gap in New York City’s art history, American art, and international modernism and complement New Yorkers’ understanding of history.

The Harlem Renaissance, which stands out with works focusing on themes such as African American identity, community, slavery and the daily experiences of black people, also has an important place in American history in terms of pioneering political activism by providing black people with a spirit of self-determination, a new social consciousness and pride.

The Harlem Renaissance is considered to have played a major role in laying the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibition, open to the public from Feb. 25, can be visited until July 28.

Source: Newsroom