The Brooklyn Museum has announced a $13 million renovation project to create new Arts of Africa galleries, set to open in Fall 2027. The 6,400-square-foot space on the museum's third floor will display 300 works from its 4,500-piece collection, spanning from antiquity to the present day. The project, led by architectural firm Peterson Rich Office, will repurpose latent storage space and reconnect galleries architecturally.
The renovation represents a significant institutional shift to center African and Afrodiasporic perspectives within a broader art historical narrative, moving away from past anthropological framing. It reconnects the African art collection with the museum's Egyptian galleries, dissolving a historical separation. The project is led by curators Ernestine White-Mifetu and Annissa Malvoisin, who emphasize object biographies and living cultural traditions, positioning the collection as a dynamic entity integrated with the museum's other holdings.