Brooklyn Museum Will Debut New Permanent African Art Galleries in 2027

by Olivia Seaman, Brooklyn Paper

The Brooklyn Museum is set to undergo a transformative expansion that will redefine how African art is experienced in New York City. In a move aimed at elevating its historic and renowned African art collection, the museum has announced a $13 million renovation project to create permanent Arts of Africa galleries.

Scheduled to open in fall 2027, the newly designed 6,400-square-foot galleries will bring more than 300 works of African art into public view, “connecting seamlessly with the Museum’s Egyptian art galleries, uniting North Africa with the rest of the continent.” The space will be located on the museum’s third floor, adjacent to its iconic Beaux-Arts Court.

The project is being led by Brooklyn-based firm Peterson Rich Office, known for innovative reuse in cultural institutions. They will consult with Beyer Blinder Belle on historic preservation.

Anne Pasternak, the director of the Brooklyn Museum, said that the renovations are more than just a gallery, and are a “bold reframing of how African art is understood and celebrated in American museums.”

“This renovation is a major step in our larger vision to revitalize the entire museum, creating spaces that will allow us to continue to entice and engage a breadth of audiences with distinctive art experiences,” she said in a statement. “Ultimately, this transformation strengthens our role as a civic and cultural anchor in Brooklyn — deepening our relationship with our community and expanding what a museum can be for the public we serve.”

Brooklyn Museum curators Ernestine White Nifetu and Annissa Malvoisin, whose work “collectively shapes new approaches to how African art is displayed and interpreted,” will create the displays and context for the works.

According to the Brooklyn Museum, the first pieces from Africa were added to the collection in the early 1900s. In 1923, it “displayed works from the African continent, emphasizing their artistic qualities rather than treating them as ethnographic specimens,” making it one of the first museum collections of African art in the United States. Today, the collection is home to 4,500 objects and covers approximately 2,500 years of history.

Renovations will begin in summer 2026, with an opening timeframe of fall 2027.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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