Caribbean: Crossroads of the World is an exhibition organized by El Museo del Barrio, the Queens Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem. The exhibition is the culmination of nearly a decade of collaborative research and scholarship. Over 500 works of art are on display representing and emphasizing the relationship between the Caribbean and the United States, and the artists who continue contributing to conversations about national and regional identity and belonging.
The exhibition presents a wide range of mediums such as portraiture, contemporary video and installation work from a myriad of time periods. Featured artists include Paul Gauguin, Elvis Lopez, Francisco Oller, Jean Michel Basquiat, Wilfredo Lam and Ebony G. Patterson. The exhibition will be presented at all three museums and will be paired with a range of related programs and events. This kind of large-scale institutional celebration of the creative diversity inspired by and created in the nexus of diasporic exchange that is the Caribbean has never been attempted on this scale or with such a wide range of artists. All three museum exhibitions should be on the “must-see” list of anyone in New York this summer!
We had a chance to attend the opening of Caribbean: Crossroads of the World at the Studio Museum in Harlem last Wednesday, June 13, 2012, where they had a big bash to celebrate this history-making collaborative exhibition. With such warm weather, the majority of attendees remained in the museum’s beautiful courtyard where dj’s had the crowd moving past the official end at 9:00 pm. In attendance were some of the participating contemporary artists, trustees, notable collectors and of course the always gracious Studio Museum director Thelma Golden.
Be sure to check out The Studio Museum in Harlem, El Museo del Barrio and Queens Museum of Art‘s websites for program scheduling and other news related to this incredible project!