A new chapter opens in a landmark with 130 years of history

New York's Brooklyn Museum of Art is opening a new permanent exhibition hall dedicated to its historic collection of African art. Designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO), the project will measure approximately 595 square meters (6,400 square feet) and be located near the Beaux-Arts Court on the third floor of the museum.

The key to this renovation is to transform the space previously used as a storage space into an exhibition hall. In particular, for the first time in the history of the museum, the Egyptian Art Gallery and the African Art Gallery will be directly connected, allowing visitors to experience North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa as one continuous cultural region.

Why is this project important?

In traditional art history narratives, Egyptian art has often been treated separately in the category of 'ancient civilization', and sub-Saharan African art in the category of 'tribal art' or 'folk art'. This distinction originated from the cultural geography perspective of the colonial era, and there has been an active movement in recent academic circles to reconsider it.

The Brooklyn Museum's decision is an architectural implementation of this academic shift. The museum stated its vision to "present the African art collection as alive and dynamic, encompassing various forms and materials, eras and regions." From classical sculpture to contemporary art, works from across the African continent and diaspora will be comprehensively displayed.

Dialogue between Beaux-Arts style and modern architecture

The Brooklyn Museum, designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1893, is a designated New York City landmark and a representative work of neoclassical architecture. Over the past 25 years, there have been large-scale renovations and renovations, including the reorganization of the Asian and Islamic Arts Museum (10-year project), the Great Hall renovation (2016), the establishment of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Feminist Center (2007), and the reconstruction of the Rubin Pavilion and lobby (2004).

The three exhibition halls being renovated this time were built during different periods of the museum's architectural history, and have different ceiling heights, proportions, and structural systems. The first pavilion, located in the historic East Wing, features 7.6-metre (25-foot) high ceilings, 7-metre (23-foot) windows allowing natural light to filter in, and traditional Beaux-Arts moldings. The adjacent exhibition halls, built in the 1920s, are relatively small.

Peterson Rich Office's design strategy is to highlight the individual characteristics of each space while integrating them into a single, coherent exhibition experience. The key element is to restore the enfilade (a structure in which successive rooms are connected in a row) that originally connected the spaces around the Beaux-Arts Court. By opening blocked openings and removing doors, the original visual axis and movement lines are restored.

The journey of the African collection through 200 years of museum history

The Brooklyn Museum of Art is one of the largest art museums in the United States with a history of over 200 years. Although African art collections have been collected for a long time, they have often been released only in the form of special exhibitions or temporary exhibitions without a dedicated permanent exhibition hall. The establishment of this new permanent hall marks a new milestone in the history of the museum in that it provides a permanent space suitable for the collection.

Over the past few decades, major Western art museums have been reassessing and recontextualizing African art. Since the 2000s, as collections have been reinterpreted from a postcolonial perspective and discussions on the return of looted cultural assets have become active, how to display and describe African art has become a key task for the art museum world. This project by the Brooklyn Museum is expected to attract attention as an example of presenting architectural and curatorial solutions within this trend.

Future outlook [AI analysis]

This project is supported by New York City and federal grants, the Ford Foundation, the Sills Family Foundation, and individual donors. Renovation work is scheduled to begin Summer 2026 and open Fall 2027.

If this project is successfully completed, it is highly likely that other major art museums will reorganize their exhibition spaces to integrate African-related collections that were previously separated by region. In particular, a curatorial approach that connects Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa can go beyond academic discussion and become a new standard for visitor experience.

In addition, the design method of the Peterson Rich Office, which respects the original value while introducing modern infrastructure (lighting system, climate control, etc.) within a historic building, is expected to serve as a reference example for other organizations seeking a balance between preservation and modernization of cultural properties.