AfroFuturist Period Room “almost woke” at the MET?
"Before Yesterday We Could Fly" Banner outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Reclaiming the Past While Being Future Forward
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a selection of what are called “period rooms.” As in many other museums throughout the United States and globally, these period rooms are reproductions or imagined spaces, based upon a time and place in the past. Typically, the rooms feature furniture, accessories and other decorative touches and artifacts, that are meant to be represent a room in a home.
Museums are not the only public spaces where this construct is assembled: think about certain home furnishing stores, which show you a model home or individual rooms. And of course, if you’ve ever visited a model home from a builder, you have encountered a version of this room display as well.
Although the in-store versions of period rooms are intended to lure you into spending more money to purchase the full ensemble, the period rooms in a museum are presumably meant to educate, as much as entertain. They can and should spur a visitor’s imagination. What would it have been like to sit in that old chair? How cozy would it be to snooze on that canopied bed? How elegant would you feel getting dressed while gazing at yourself in that antique mirror?
Whimsical, poignant or confusing?
A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is called “Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room” leaves viewers with just as many questions, if not more. The very modest new edition to the American wing seems at times rather whimsical, poignant, and somewhat confusing. It is by curation an imaginary period room (or small home) that unlike it grander sister rooms does not just represent one period in time, but is a cross-section of various pasts and conjured futures. This small rectangular house, composed of two adjacent rooms and two entrances into the gallery, brings together actual antiques as well as contemporary artworks. Together they could offer an intriguing contrast with the other period rooms in the museum, if only they were placed closer together or even in the same general area.
Homage to Seneca Village?
Once you enter the room fuly, there is an explanation as to the curatrial context of the exhibition. The impetus for this project is paying homage to Seneca Village. The Met Museum is located on the eastern edge of Central Park, and what too many people don’t know is that Seneca Village was located on a sizable expanse of what is now Central Park. Seneca Village was home to many freed Africans living in New York City, and it included homes, a few churches, a school and two graveyards.
Largely forgotten for too many years, it was in existence from 1825 through 1857 and at its peak, over 260 people resided there. Most inhabitants were freed Africans, but some white ethnic people lived there too. It grew to be a stable and nicely maintained community. But when City administrators and various elites clamored for a centrally located public park for the City, the Seneca Village region was targeted for its development.
Although residents put up fights, the City took the land through eminent domain, razed the buildings, and the inhabitants scattered. The once proud Seneca Village was largely erased. However, in 1992 the book The Park and The People: A History of Central Park was published, and it discussed the past of Seneca Village. This spurred interest in uncovering its history and paying tribute to it as well.
What You Will See
Strolling slowly around the two-section room (which includes the kitchen-hearth and the living room) several times, I wanted to sit down and actually use many of the items in this home. Just as people go into the model rooms in furniture stores and flop down on beds and sofas, I would have sat in one of the chairs and nursed a cup of tea if I could. In fact, I was more eager to do this here than in the other period rooms of the Met, which are, admittedly, dusty and forbidding.
There are over twenty pieces from pre-20th Century times (glassware, ceramics, wooden items such as a churn and a salt box, metal items such as a kettle) as well as more artistic older items from Africa (a cross, a hair comb). There are several contemporary pieces created by Roberto Lugo, including many “period cups” decorated with the faces of remarkable African-Americans (Gabrielle Union, Frederick Douglass, etc.) and plates with faces (Nina Simone, Beyonce, etc.). The room features a variety of chairs and other furnishings, a few paintings and other artworks.
The total effect can be taken in a few ways: a home with items acquired over time; a bewildering hodgepodge of personal belongings; an exhibition giftshop, or a movie set. The latter makes the most sense when learning that one of the lead curators of the installation is Hannah Beachler, the production designer for the movie “Black Panther.” Each person who visits the period room can put their own spin on the who, what, why and how.
Highlights from the Exhibition
There were so many different parts to this imagined tableau, but a few stood out for me. The Lion Man #1 comic book (originally produced by All-Negro Comics) near the TV set; the colorful; and the Jean-Michel Basquiat ceramic cup (created by Lugo) caught my eye. The square TV set with multiple screens was intriguing, and it shows a video by Jenn Nkiru.
I also appreciated the wallpaper, with its patterns of leaves and plants. Designed by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and named “Thriving and Potential, Displaced (Again and Again and…)” it resembled flocked wallpaper that might be seen in European period rooms, but is much more intricate. Upon closer scrutiny, it includes images of the 1856 hand-drawn survey map of Seneca Village, as well as people and the okra plant.
There are other curious aspects of this exhibition. Some sections are “open” (just covered by glass) and others are wood paneled, with small windows cut in. Why would we have to peek inside?
An interesting exercise is to compare the Afrofuturism period room to a few others in the Met Museum. Two others on the First floor include furniture but only a few decorative items. One of the rooms is dominated by a luxurious bed, another by a table and chairs.
Looking at the AfroFuturism period room, we are left to wonder quite a lot. Where would someone sleep — in chairs? What could I cook with the kitchen herbs on the wall? But even more confounding: how can I know more about indivual works of art that decorate the walls of this imagined house?
What is perhaps the most resounding questions one is left with regarding this show is its seemingly haphazard placement within the museum. There are two entrances to this period room with minimal signage, other than the name of the exhibition high above in a darkened hall. One of these entrances comes from just after you seem to exit the American Wing. The other is from Medieval Armor. While it may not surprise us that this exhibition is next to an American section, it is a bit provocative to be set up beside a Medieval European setting, chock full of weapons and armor. The Afrofuturism exhibition emphasizes domesticity, a harsh contrast to the battle mode of the next large gallery.
People come from around New York City, the United States and even the whole world, to see what is in this renowned museum. How do they react to this curious new addition? While I visited, there were at least 30 people who walked in and out of the exhibit, and each at least seemed to be engaged with it.
The Gothamist’s Review
However, I looked on Facebook at a Gothamist article about the exhibition, and I read this comment:
What? So much more interesting and worthwhile exhibitions could and should be pursued. Enough with this nonsense!
Sadly, I know that the man who wrote this (and who is somehow friends with two people I knew in high school) is not alone in thinking that the Metropolitan Museum of Art should only be exhibiting “Certain types of art” and should skip “This kind of art.”
Certainly most vistiors will recognize that this permenant addition to the period rooms is a step in the right direction and hopefully it signifies a more inclusive curatorial mandate for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although, in light of the lack of response from the public relations department for our repeated request for images from the exhbition, one has to wonder how deeply committed the institution truly is to artistic inclusivity.
Let us know what YOU think?
Still, we recommend visiting (and photographing for yourself) “Before Yesterday We Could Fly” if for nothing else than to show the Met, and the art world in general, that it’s a noble and worthwhile endeavor. Let us know what you think after you visit the exhibition. We’d like to hear from you.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 5th Ave (enter at 82nd Street).
Photos by Jeff Oppenheim @suite24k
I really appreciated your thoughtful review. It echoed a lot of my feelings about this easy to like, but sort of hard-to-understand exhibition. I found the wall text a bit hard to read, with the light color of the type against the wall, the dim lighting, and the large number of people going through. I hope people understood the Seneca Village story.
So many great works of art in that small space that I wanted to spend more time with. It felt like a jewel box.
I agree the placement within the museum felt odd. Was it featured or marginalized?