Brooklyn Museum

How would you describe your own style? 

As part of #AfricaFashion, In Our Own Style presents personal photography as a window into past and present styles and fashion attitudes. These self-submitted photographs illuminate an intergenerational understanding of identity and family, which spans the African continent and diaspora.

View more photographs in Africa Fashion, loaned to the Brooklyn Museum by individuals with ties to Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda. 

Thank you to all who submitted! Continue to share your photos and videos from your family’s archive with #AfricaFashionBkM.

Raise your hand if you’ll never look at discarded tampon applicators the same way again. 🙋

In honor of the final week of DEATH TO THE LIVING, Long Live Trash, we’re here to remind you on behalf of Duke Riley to help keep our waterways clean.

This exhibition is overflowing with Riley’s cleverness including: parodies of YouTube tutorials from an alter ego “Duke the Fisherman,” a fully functioning chandelier (or “Boozalier”) made from empty mini liquor bottles, display cases filled with contemporary interpretations of scrimshaw depicting international business executives that the artist identifies as responsible for the perpetuation of single-use plastics, and so much more.

🔗 https://bit.ly/DukeRileyBkM

Two powerful pairs stand before you… 🐶🐯

Be it Hollywood film stills, zodiac symbols, or even Chinese and Japanese artworks from our collection, Oscar yi Hou’s process typically involves appropriating and transforming details from a broad range of source material. In the end, his central subjects are part of a collage-like composition of “Oriental” and “Western” imagery—descriptors the artist uses to highlight the perceived foreignness of people from East Asia. 

In yi Hou’s work, shown here, he references the late 18th-early 19th century nephrite jade object from our Asian Art collection. 

Shift perspectives, think differently, look at art through the artist’s eye.   

Since 1980, Jamel Shabazz has created enduring images of style, community, and joy throughout the five boroughs, particularly Brooklyn. Take a close look at his new installation Faces and Places, 1980–2023 on July 27 from 7-8 pm. This intimate outdoor conversation between the artist and curator Drew Sawyer will be followed by a signing of the limited-edition exhibition catalogue. 

Tickets are $25 ($20 for Members).

🎟️ https://bit.ly/3JLBPSI

Hooray! Congratulations are in order for our 2023 grads. 🎉

We love seeing memories being made at the Museum. Share them using #MyBkM. 

Miriam Makeba’s portrait greets and grounds you near the entry of Africa Fashion. 

Makeba’s emergence as a singer on the global stage coincided with the emergence of an independent African continent. Her songs blended popular musical styles like Jazz with indigenous South African melodies, often incorporating Swahili, Xhosa, and Sotho lyrics. Well-known globally for her songs Pata Pata and Qongqothwane (the Click Song) Makeba’s music and self-fashioning embodied African liberation and identity. 

For many Africans, her music gave voice to the dawn of a new independent era and the liberation struggles that remained. Affectionately referred to as Mama Africa by her legions of fans, Makeba came to embody a forward-looking Pan-Africanism and Black Power. 

See this portrait of Makeba and hear her singular voice as part of the African Cultural Renaissance that welcomes you in #AfricaFashionBkM.

It’s a creative renaissance. 🪩⁠ ⁠ We’ve been celebrating the opening of Africa Fashion all week long and the party continues tomorrow during First Saturday: Africa Fashion! ⁠ ⁠ Pssst…First Saturday tickets are all gone, but you can still join the party by purchasing a timed ticket for Africa Fashion.⁠

🎟️ https://bit.ly/AfricaFashionBkM

Whether you’re seeking out air-conditioned galleries or looking to lounge in the shade, we’ve got you covered. 

Summer days spent in the city may very well lead you to one of our borough’s great green spaces… Prospect Park.

“Spending time in the park afforded me a temporary escape from the fast pace of city life,” says Jamel Shabazz. “Photographing in [Prospect Park and Central Park] also provided me with the opportunity to create various distinguished bodies of work, from environmental portraits, candid images of families, and endless celebrations that took place on any given day.”

Add our stoop to your route to or from the park to see portraits like these as part of Jamel Shabazz: Faces and Places, 1980–2023. 

B.Y.O.M. That’s bring your own mat, and we’ll handle the rest.

De-stress with us and join local instructors on the stoop for a gentle flow, morning yoga class on July 8 and 15. Open to all levels! 

Tickets are $16 ($10 for Members) and they include general admission.⁠

🎟️ https://bit.ly/3L721s6

I spy with my little eye… a friend, a neighbor, a family member… wait, is that me?

Visit #ArtOnTheStoop to see Jamel Shabazz: Faces and Places, 1980–2023, and you might just see a familiar face. Use #JamelShabazzBkM to help us identify you or people you know pictured in the installation. We can’t wait to see who you find! 

Welcome to Africa Fashion! 🌍

Delight in the diverse designs, fabulous fashion, and traditional textiles by iconic designers and artists from the mid-twentieth century to today.

Plan your visit through October 22.

🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g___h1aEsL8 🎟 https://bit.ly/AfricaFashionBkM

Africa Fashion is created by the V&A—touring the world. The lead sponsor is Bank of America with major support provided by ALÁRA. Special thanks to OkayAfrica / Okayplayer and Nataal, media sponsors for this exhibition.

Tag someone who needs to be at First Saturday: Africa Fashion. 

Celebrate the opening of Africa Fashion at the next #FirstSaturdaysBkM, which features a glamorous line-up honoring African heritage as well as delicacies from Brooklyn’s finest African restaurants, selected in collaboration with African Restaurant Week Festival.

This event is free, but registration is required. Save your spot now because admission is subject to our capacity at the time of your arrival.

Bank of America is a proud sponsor of First Saturdays 25th Anniversary Season. July First Saturday is presented by Con Edison. Additional support provided by: Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Charles H. Revson Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts.

The freefall into summer time starts now. Who’s with us? ☁️ 😎⁠

Boris Anisfeld’s striking painting  of billowing clouds and the Black Sea’s blue water seems a fitting image for today’s #SummerSolstice. While the painting positions the viewer midair, looking down at the vast water from the top of the Ayu-Dag Mountain (located in southern Ukraine), it also challenges the illusion of depth in traditional landscapes by flattening all the elements onto a single plane.⁠

Anisfeld came to the United States after the 1917 Russian Revolution, and the Brooklyn Museum hosted his first American one-person exhibition one year later. ⁠

See this summertime sky—and several other landscape paintings from our collection—up-close in Monet to Morisot: The Real and Imagined in European Art, located on the fifth floor.⁠

Can we get a show of hands for those in favor of more art in the classroom… 🙋🙋‍♀️

Our Summer Teacher Institute for K-12 educators is just around the corner, taking place from July 17–20. Through a combination of close-looking, art-making, and reframing, we’ll explore how art can be used to teach students about climate change and inspire them to take action toward environmental justice.

Learn more about the Summer Teacher Institute, including the four-day schedule and additional financial assistance, here: https://bit.ly/3XaQe09

How’s this for heartwarming? ❤️

From subway smiles to posing in the park, here are a host of portraits captured by Jamel Shabazz of fathers and their kids from around our beloved city.

Sending love to all of you Dads! 

📷 Jamel Shabazz (born Brooklyn, New York, 1960). Father & Son, New York City, 1988. © Jamel Shabazz → Jamel Shabazz (born Brooklyn, New York, 1960). Father and Seeds, Harlem, Circa 2000. © Jamel Shabazz → Jamel Shabazz (born Brooklyn, New York, 1960). Riding High, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 1996. © Jamel Shabazz → Jamel Shabazz (born Brooklyn, New York, 1960). First Born, Red Hook, Brooklyn, 1982. © Jamel Shabazz

Who let the dogs out?! Fine with us, we love seeing our furry friends visiting the Brooklyn Museum. 🐶💗

Share your visit to the Museum (or your pet’s visit to the plaza) with us using #MyBkM for a chance to be reposted!