A review of The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) exhibit, Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures

Phillips Collaborative • January 30, 2024
Afrofuturism exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington. SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

The “Music and Afrofuturism” portion of the exhibition at the NMAAHC.SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

Did you know that the costume that Chadwick Boseman wore as Black Panther was 3-D printed? Yeah, me either. The NMAAHC’s Afrofuturism exhibit introduces visitors to the founders of Afrofuturism as a genre: think George Clinton, Octavia Butler, interlocutor and social scientist Alodra Nelson. It showcases New Black Futures and how music and Afrofuturism were married by artists like Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix, Outkast and Janelle Monáe. The most astonishingly brilliant and emotional portion of the exhibit is named the zone of “Infinite Possibilities”: bursting with pivotal moments of Black liberation, uprisings and protests from Ferguson to BLM protests of 2020. It is at this point where I begin to grasp that what all liberatory protests have in common is hope for a better future, a more complete existence. And that is when I gazed upon Trayvon Martin’s flight suit and began to cry. 


If you are in the Washington, D.C. area visit this fantastic exhibit through August 18, 2024. If not, the NMAAHC has created an online guide to access it if you aren’t able to visit in-person.

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