What:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will host a symposium featuring dynamic conversations, presentations, and performances by leading scholars and artists to engage with themes found in the exhibition The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Discussions and events will explore the comprehensive and far-reaching ways Black artists portrayed modern everyday life in Harlem and beyond in the 1920s–40s.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson will deliver the keynote address following an opening performance by The National Jazz Museum in Harlem House Band, led by Christopher McBride.

The day will include presentations and conversations on themes such as “Harlem as Nexus”; “Legacies of Harlem on My Mind”; “Visioning the Future: The Collections of Historically Black Colleges and Universities”; and “New Renaissance: Harlem Today.” There will be a reading by actor and playwright NSangou Njikam.

When:
April 27, 2024
10:30 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where:
Please use the Museum's main entrance at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue.

The event will take place at The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Met Fifth Avenue.

The event is free with Museum admission; advance registration is recommended. Registration details can be found on the website.

RSVP:
Click here to RSVP.

Opening Performance

10 a.m.
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem House Band, led by Christopher McBride 
Welcome and Introduction
10:35 a.m. 

Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, The Met 
Heidi Holder, Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chair of Education, The Met 
Denise Murrell, Merryl H. and James S. Tisch Curator at Large, Director’s Office, The Met 
Keynote Address
10:45 a.m. 
Isabel Wilkerson, author 
 

Session I
11:30 a.m. 
Presentations—Harlem as Nexus 
Emilie Boone, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University 
Rhea L. Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.  
Ego Ahaiwe Sowinski, archivist and author 
Richard J. Powell, John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History, Duke University Professor of Art and Art History, Duke University 
1 p.m. Break
 

Session II
2 p.m. 
Conversation—Legacies of Harlem on My Mind 
Bridget R. Cooks, Chancellor’s Fellow and Professor of Art History and African American Studies, University of California, Irvine
Lowery Stokes Sims (participating virtually), independent curator, art historian, and former curator at The Met 
Moderated by Denise Murrell, The Met 
3 p.m. 
Conversation—Visioning the Future: The Collections of Historically Black Colleges and Universities  
Kathryn E. Coney, Co-Executive Director, Gallery of Art, Howard University 
Jamaal Sheats, Associate Provost of Art and Culture, Director and Curator of Galleries, Fisk University 
Danille Taylor, Director, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum 
Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, Director, Hampton University Museum 
Moderated by Joy Bivins, Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 
4 p.m. Break 
 

Session III
4:30 p.m. 
Conversation—New Renaissance: Harlem Today 
Jordan Casteel, artist, Trustee, The Met 
Anna Glass, Executive Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem 
Sade Lythcott, Chief Executive Officer, National Black Theatre 
Moderated by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem 
5:30 p.m. 
Reading 
NSangou Njikam, actor, playwright 
5:45 p.m. 
 

Closing Remarks 
Denise Murrell, The Met