Njideka Akunyili Crosby Included in Ideas of Africa

Njideka Akunyli Crosby is one of several artists included in the exhibition Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination at the Museum of Modern Art.

The exhibition examines how photographers and their sitters contributed to the proliferation of Pan-African solidarity during the mid-20th century. Embracing the international spirit of the time, Ideas of Africa gathers striking pictures by photographers working in Central and West African cities who created images of everyday citizens, dazzling music scenes, and potent manifestations of youth culture that reflected emerging political realities.

Photographs by Jean Depara, Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, and Sanlé Sory portray residents across Bamako, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Kinshasa at a time when the winds of decolonial change swept the African continent in tandem with the burgeoning US Civil Rights movement. The exhibition also spotlights James Barnor and Kwame Brathwaite—photographers living in Europe and North America who contributed to the construction of Africa as a political idea.

Contemporary works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Samuel Fosso, and Silvia Rosi show the enduring relevance of these themes. Organized by Oluremi C. Onabanjo, The Peter Schub Curator, with Chiara M. Mannarino, Curatorial Assistant, The Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography, Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination embraces the creative potential of the photographic portrait and its political resonance across the globe.

Learn more at MoMA.