The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as a curator in the Department of Photographs, poaching her from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Onabanjo, formerly the Peter Schub Curator at MoMA, will be tasked with managing the landmark gift of over 6,500 photographs from the Walther Family Foundation and curating exhibitions with a focus on twentieth-century media.
This high-profile hire signals the Met's strategic expansion of its photography department ahead of the 2030 opening of the Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art. By bringing in a curator known for global perspectives and scholarship, the museum aims to recontextualize its photographic histories and integrate the medium more deeply into its broader, cross-cultural narratives.