The building has undergone numerous renovations since closing at the start of the pandemic.
San Francisco’s extraordinary Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) has served as a vital Bay Area institution since 2005. It’s one of the world’s few museums focusing solely on African Diaspora culture, and we are very lucky to enjoy it right here in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena neighborhood.
After a lengthy pandemic hiatus, this vibrant museum is finally reopening its doors to the general public on Thursday, October 21. MoAD will also host a Members Only day on October 20, and a free admission day on Saturday, October 23.
The museum is looking its best after undergoing renovations to the lobby, theater, and gallery spaces during the pandemic. It will offer an exciting lineup of original exhibitions that are not to be missed!
Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks (October 20, 2021 – February 27, 2022)
See 20 works by Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo in his first museum solo exhibition. His work strives to capture the essence of the Black figure using expressive finger-painted strokes and brushstrokes. The personal, intimate paintings investigate Black joy, Black subjectivity, and the Black gaze. Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah.
Billie Zangewa: Thread for a Web Begun (October 20, 2021 – February 27, 2022)
Billie Zangewa is a Malawi-born artist based in Johannesburg. Her career has developed mainly in Europe and South Africa, and MoAD will host her first solo US museum exhibition featuring work from the last 15 years. See her captivating layered silk tapestries, which explore motherhood, gender, and skin tone in fragmented images of daily life. Curated by Dexter Wimberly.
Beyond the Sky (October 20, 2021 – February 27, 2022)
This exhibition presents 4 short films by contemporary African filmmakers. The series navigates personal and metaphysical spaces in an effort to unite voices across the African continent. See regional traditions presented in a common, digital form. Curated by Leila Weefur.
Sam Vernon: Impasse of Desires (October 20, 2021 – February 27, 2022)
SF-based artist Sam Vernon takes over much of the MoAD’s first-floor space with a dynamic exhibition that creates “visual friction.” See drapes of colorful fabric throughout the gallery and lobby, and a vibrant yet loose constellation of images in the first-floor hallway. The exhibition investigates queerness within a vast network of Black faces and familial structures.
Sydney Cain: Refutations (October 20, 2021 – December 19, 2021)
SF-based artist Sydney Cain is a 2019-2020 awardee of the MoAD’s Emerging Artists program. Her work investigates ancestral memory and Black myth in the context of genealogy research and colonialism, expressed through photographs and drawings.
The Museum of the African Diaspora works to spark difficult conversations and learning while celebrating art, artists and cultures from the African Diaspora. Its exhibitions have long engaged with the Bay Area community and beyond by lifting up Black art and artists of African descent.
Remember, the celebrated museum reopens to the public on October 21, 2021. They’ll host a Members Only day on October 20, and a free admission day on October 23!
Find the Museum of the African Diaspora at 685 Mission St in Yerba Buena, on the ground floor of the St. Regis. Hours are Wednesday-Saturday from 11am-6pm and Sundays from 11am-5pm.
Featured image: Billie Zangewa, courtesy of MoAD