Welcome to the first ever day-long Virtual Museum Mile Festival. The Africa Center joined the physical festival for the first time last year and we are very excited to be part of this year’s virtual iteration.
Follow #VirtualMuseumMile and explore the links and videos below!
– Join us for a live-streamed conversation at 5:00 PM EST on our Instagram and Facebook pages in partnership with the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD), our partners for the African/American: Making the Nation’s Table exhibition (see below). The talk will feature culinary historian and the exhibition’s curator, Jessica B. Harris and Pierre Thiam, who serves as an advisor for the exhibit. Thiam is also the executive chef and co-owner of Teranga, the fast-casual dining concept located inside The Africa Center. Harris and Thiam will discuss the exhibition, their careers as culinary ambassadors, and Harris’ new book Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play.
– African/American: Making the Nation’s Table is an exhibition organized by the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) in partnership with The Africa Center. It was set to open in our space in March 2020. The exhibition features The Legacy Quilt – a stunning, handmade quilt made by Harlem Needle Arts and composed of 400 blocks, each one representing an African American contribution to American cuisine. Discover the quilt block by block, and contribute to the project by submitting a story about your own African American culinary hero.
– Artist Ezra Wube led an animation workshop live on our Facebook page on May 30th. Check out the video below:
– Learn more about Ezra Wube’s practice, and Project Junction, his art installation that is currently up in our physical space:
Established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts, the Museum Mile Festival, which normally occurs on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 110th Street on the second Tuesday evening in June, was cancelled this year due to the ongoing pandemic. Virtual Museum Mile Festival is presented in this convivial spirit, with the same goal of increasing public awareness of arts and culture, and bringing communities together in a socially responsible manner.
The other participating institutions include: the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Neue Galerie New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; and The Africa Center.